Black Friday gun sales don’t tell the whole story, NSSF says

By Christen Smith

Gun background checks — and by proxy, sales — declined to pre-2016 levels on Black Friday. (Photo: AP)
Background checks for gun sales fell 10 percent Black Friday, but the industry’s top trade association said last week the results don’t tell the whole story.
Joseph Bartozzi, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said focusing on “one specific day” means ignoring retail trends that extend sales days before and after the year’s most notorious shopping holiday.
“With many retailers expanding their promotions to the entire week of Thanksgiving, one should look at the bigger picture,” he said. “There are a number of factors that determine the gun-buying habits of consumers, and trying to draw any conclusions from looking at one day of NICS checks is inappropriate and misleading.”
Dealers processed 182,093 applications through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System during Black Friday. An FBI spokesperson said activity peaked between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., when the agency fielded more than 17,000 requests and nearly five transactions a minute.
Bartozzi said the agency told NSSF during a meeting in October it applauded of retailers’ plans for promotions before and after Black Friday. “By doing this, both the retailers and the FBI – NICS system were

Source: Guns.com