Guns sales have declined since President Donald Trump was elected, a result of gun owners holding less fear government would beef up regulations or pass more stringent gun-control laws, The Hill reported, citing FBI data released Friday.
Although FBI did not have exact data on guns purchased, the activity was extrapolated from background checks which are required to purchase firearms.
Background checks have declined for the second consecutive month (December and January), the FBI released, dropping almost 20 percent year-over-year from January 2016, per the report.
"The January decline comes after 19 straight months of record year-over-year increases under the Obama administration, from May 2015 through November 2016," The Hill's Rudy Takala reported.
The end of President Barack Obama's two-term tenure in the White House featured record-setting numbers, with 23 million background checks in 2015 and 27 million in 2016, according to the report. Background check data does not solely dictate the number of guns sold, since some prospective gun buyers are turned down and others might purchase more than one firearm, The Hill noted.
Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign for potential gun control regulation and legislation led to an increased demand for guns in case she won November's election, experts told The Hill.
Ammunition sales show a similar trends, according to Ammunition Depot managing partner Scott Blick.
"Ammunition sales are as expected for this time of the year compared to years past," Blick told The Hill.
"We saw a very large surge in buying heading into the election," he said. "Handgun calibers like 9mm have been steady, but sales of .223/5.56 have slowed since the election.
"Industry contacts tell us this is the pattern they are seeing with firearms as well.
"Handguns are strong along with hunting rifles, whereas ARs are slower, likely due to the large amount of purchases made in the run-up to the election."
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