The figures decreased slightly, compared to April, but annual statistics reveal the decline to be conditioned by season, as the summer is traditionally slow for American arms market.
The FBI processes its checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to determine if a person preparing to buy a gun has a criminal record.
NICS ratings are used to as a barometer for gun purchase levels in the country, but actual figures are generally accepted as being much higher, as some states do not require background checks for private purchase.
“Based on varying state laws and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale,” the FBI reports.
Many gun rights advocates note that fierce anti-weapon rhetoric prompts people to buy more guns, driven by a fear of losing constitutional rights.
“There is no doubt that the string of record monthly gun sales have been driven by the anti-rights agenda of the Obama Administration and the millions of dollars that Michael Bloomberg has spent assaulting the Second Amendment,” Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, claimed.
Gottlieb asserted that gun-sale records will continue to be broken, as fearful “Americans vote to support Second Amendment rights right through Election Day.”
