NICS Checks Remain High in September, More Carry Permits, Lower Gun Sales

By Dean Weingarten

Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- – The total number of National Instant background Checks, (NICS) remain at historically high levels for September of 2018.

September, 2018 had 1,956,681 NICS checks. September, 2017 had 1,967,104 NICS checks, and September, 2016, the all time record, had 1,992,219 NICS checks. There is less than a two percent difference in the total NICS checks numbers for the last three Septembers.

Retailers are reporting that sales of firearms have fallen. How are the high NICS numbers and lower firearm sales reconciled?

The answer can be found by digging deeply into the FBI reports of NICS numbers by state and type.

While total NICS numbers remain high, the number of NICS numbers used for gun permits and for permit re-checks has become a larger percentage of the total.

Permit checks and re-checks were 41 percent of all NICS in September of 2016. (Rechecks are displayed in the FBI figures starting in June of 2016)

• Permit and permit re-checks are 43 percent of all NICS in September of 2017.
• Permit and permit re-checks are 50 percent of all NICS in September of 2018.

The numbers show a dramatic increase in permit and permit …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand