Posted January 3, 2018 4:00 pm by Comments

By Christen Smith

Federal background checks for gun sales and permits had a strong finish in 2017, according to federal data.
The FBI processed nearly 2.6 million applications through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System last month — the fourth busiest December since the agency began keeping track two decades ago.
Estimated gun sales — the sum total of transfers in the NICS’s handgun, long gun, multiple and other categories — exceeded 1.5 million, making it the strongest month of 2017. Sales increased more than 12 percent over November.
Following a trend witnessed all year long, however, last month’s sales declined nearly 13 percent over 2016, the busiest on record for background checks.
Background checks serve as a proxy measure for gun sales, however, the measurement isn’t perfect. Applications for concealed carry permits, periodic rechecks for maintaining licenses and a slew of smaller categories for pawns,  redemptions, rentals and other rare situations undercut the total amount of checks processed in one month. Also, dealers submit one background check application per sale — not per gun purchased.
Dealers transferred more than 784,000 handguns and nearly 698,000 long guns in December, according to federal data. It was the busiest month all year long for both categories.
Comparatively speaking, however, last

Source: Guns.com

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