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The number of National Instant Check System (NIC) one in February ran just ahead of last year’s total. And 2017 as a whole was the second highest year for NICS checks on record. There were 2,333,193 checks done this February. That is 104.4% of the 2,234,817 checks done a year ago.

February 2018 is the second highest February of NICS checks on record. The highest was in February, 2013, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, when severe infringements on gun purchases seemed likely under the Obama administration.

In 2013, it was fear that pressure from President Obama and a Republican Congress, fearful of the intense media push for restrictions, would cave to the progressive desire to restrict firearms ownership. The effort ultimately failed, but the situation was very much in doubt at the time.

With the election of President Trump, many predicted that NICS background checks and firearm sales would drop through the floor.

It is likely that March was see an increase in NICS checks as sales increase with increasing Media pushes for bans of AR15 rifles, and with activist school administrations using children to push for more restrictions on gun ownership.

Many NICS checks are performed for the sale of used guns. Those guns do not add to the number of privately owned guns in circulation. The number NICS checks for each private gun added to the stock in the United States has varied from about .48 guns per NICS check to .76 guns per NICS check. The average is about .6 guns per NICS check.

A good approximation of the number of guns added to the private stock in the United States in February, 2018, would be 1.4 million.

The number of privately owned guns in the United States is now about 420 million. The number will probably reach 430 million by the end of 2018.  Most estimates of private gun ownership in the United States stop at about 2006, before the Obama administration. Over 100 million guns have been sold or imported into the United States since that time.

The estimate of privately owned guns in the United States was made using the techniques pioneered by  Newton and Zimring, which includes the calculation of the 1945 number of modern guns added to the stock from 1899 to 1945.  Firearms manufactured before 1899 are not included.

From 1945 to 1987, the data was taken from “Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America” by Gary Kleck, Table 2.1.   The methodology used by Kleck was applied to  the figures obtained from the ATF for later years.  The number shown is the cumulative addition of domestic manufacture plus imports minus exports.  This does not count guns shipped to the U.S. military.   The figures are rounded to the nearest million.

The numbers added to the private stock for 2017 and 2018 were estimated from the NICS numbers.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

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26 COMMENTS

      • This. Its pretty much a given we are going to get a (D) president next election so get what you can while you can. Get something for your kids, friends, and neighbors too.

        One party wants to take guns, the other party gives grounds or fails to regain ground. Its basically the people saying they need a pause on the fuckening, without actually being able to stop it.

    • All done at the behest of the NRA. You think it was Trump’s idea to have that televised meeting with the senators on gun control? You think it was his idea for him to have the DOJ ban bump stocks? It all comes from the NRA, the NRA tells Trump what to do with gun legislation and he does it.

      The manufacturers that donate to the NRA need a good panic to get their sales back up, this is all by design. When it comes to private gun ownership, we have no allies other than each other.

  1. Gun control advocates will try and make you think all that activity was generated by the same 2000 white guys as last month and every month before that.

  2. There is no use buying an AR-15 (or any other weapon) if you are just going to turn them in when Congress bans them.

    • There is no use in buying an AR-15 (or any gun) if you aren’t going to USE it when congress bans them.

      FIFY

    • What firearms are you talking about? I dressed up in camo and sold all mine at the last gun show. Those handshakes get tiring after awhile don’t they? Then burned the camo and donated all my ammo to someone who was going to melt it down and make scuba diving weights out of it.

    • That’s the point. No literally, everyone follow me on this one, all the way through.

      I’ve been on the other side of this coin before, searching for weapons caches in Iraq. So, judging by what’s been going on lately, I want to share a bit of advice with all of you.

      *When* (just accept the fact this is going to happen). *When* the confiscation starts, you need to already be prepared. They ARE gearing up to come for your guns, *right now* ..anyway…

      When they show up at your door, demanding to search your property, respond with
      “yes sir”
      “go ahead sir search away”
      “please search my stuff sir, you help keep us safe”
      “I support you brave boys”
      While they search they will question you, about people you know, family, and how fit their profile. This is where you bring up your “boating accident” where you lost all your guns. Be more realistic with that story, fluff their political nuts. Tell them the Parkland shooting changed your mind and you decided to get rid of all your guns, “for the children.”

      A big part of waging an insurgency is smiling, waving, shaking hands, and looking right into the face of the enemy and acting submissive to them to give them a false sense of empowerment and pride. You need to forget your pride, and realize that winning is more important that looking like a hardass who stands toe to toe with red coats in open field, and dies.

      Meanwhile, they search your property, rough and hard. It won’t be pretty. But they won’t find anything, because you’re smart, and you cache’d everything offsite for later use. If you’re really smart, you have more than one cache.

      After they’re gone, that’s when the like minded among yourselves get back together, and strike back. After this initial push, when the intensity of the first few days/weeks passes, they lose their gungho attitude as the event settles down into routine, boredome, and work they don’t want to do. Watch those routine and exploit it. Spend *weeks*, just watching movements and learning behaviors. That’s how you learn when and where.

      Keep in mind throughout the course of this war, you keep living your regular life. You smile at the soldiers. You wave at them. You’re a perfect fascist. You don’t abandon your family to go die in the woods somewhere in a big dramatic Gettysburg re-enactment. You stay and fight for your locale where you know the people, customs, and terrain, because *they* won’t be, and for all intents and purposes, will be in a foreign country. Avoid strength, exploit weakness. Draw it out into a long protracted conflict that has no end in sight.

      Fight the good fight, fight the long fight. Fight them on the shores, fight them in fiends, fight them in the hills, fight them in the cities and towns, and never, never surrender.

    • Has nothing to do with the gun banners, all about how awesome and fun guns are at the range! Just got this years schedule for 3 gun matches and getting new toys to use at the range. Also the new 224 valkrye is on the shopping list! Too many guns in private hands in the USA to push this ban all guns crap . What we are seeing now is bs propaganda, just a reminder to give more money to the NRA, GOA and 2nd, and never vote Democrat again. THANKS FOR MAKING SURE I WILL VOTE AGAINST PROGRESSIVES AND RINOS! If they keep blocking school security and accountability of the FBI and sheriffs like scott israel they are going to get more people murdered, arm responsible teachers like they do in Utah, and put nutjobs away and that will go a long way to making America great again! I swear these Democrats must have a party every time they get to virtue signal and wave bloody shirts, it is despicable. Go see Ben Shapiro speak at cpac on youtube, he speaks the truth.

  3. Money’s tight right now in my household or I would add to these #’s…I’ll just add to my ammo stash. Do I buy this is orchestrated by the NRA?!? No. Trump’s an idiot…

  4. The 2016 AFME report came out last month and 2016 was the largest year for gun manufacturing and sales in the history of the United States. 16,635,212 new firearms entered the marketplace and homes of gun owners in 2016.

    Based on the NICS figures for 2017, we’re probably looking at another 15+ million guns last year. Because of recent events, I wouldn’t be surprised if 2018 surpasses 2016!

  5. That’s why the number is not 300 but closer to 500+ million guns in “our” hands. At least 16 million hunting license in 2017. With me and 9 others only 1 out of 10 hunt. So…. not to scare the Hoplo’s but the would mean 160 million gun people. Revolution? Well we don’t have weapons to take out tanks?

    You need at least a tank driver, loader and gunner. You need fuel and ammo supply lines. Maintenance. Rebels don’t have to destroy the tank.

    By the way. The dems win. They impeach Trump. He resigns. Mike Pence takes over. Pardons Trump. Selects him as his Veep. Pence resigns. Trump takes over. Selects Pence as his Veep. And all the blue states become red, with all the blood from lib heads exploding.

  6. That is to say, that too many guns in private hands in the USA, which comes to fear and insecurity in people. This is a danger, and it should be the appeal at times! So that to stop the kills, and to preserve life in the first place is the safety of people. This will change the system in the state so that people can move freely and safely. Because, If they are not resolved, then they will be far worse than what they are doing now …

  7. When that scrawny Ritalin addled commie Hoggface realizes you can buy ammo over the internet, he will start cursing out Trump for that, and of course Trump will respond by banning it! Because, nothing says 4D chess like being played by a demonic rat faced creepy high school punk!

    Art of the Deal!

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