Gun sales are skyrocketing in states where measures targeting Second Amendment rights are getting passed, according to this month's National Shooting Sports Foundation report.
In April, there was an uptick of 1,369,296 National Instant Criminal Background Check System verifications by the FBI, particularly for AR-15s, AK-47s, and variants of both rifles.
NSSF Managing Director of Public Affairs Mark Oliva told Breitbart that Washington and Illinois, two states that adopted "assault weapons" bans this year, saw sharp increases in NICS checks.
Washington racked up 71,272 background checks in April 2023, compared to 49,641 in April 2022. Meanwhile, Illinois posted 39,954 adjusted background checks this April, juxtaposed with 35,790 a year prior.
The spike "shows that there continues to be a steady appetite for lawful firearm ownership, even as certain state governors and legislators are taking radical measures to infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to possess firearms," Oliva said.
It comes as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, has defended signing a measure that prohibits manufacturing, importing, distributing, and selling over 60 specific weapons, including AR-15s, M-16s, and AK-47s.
"Assault weapons have no reason other than mass murder. Their only purpose is to kill humans as rapidly as possible in large numbers," Inslee said last week. "AR-15s should not be idolized; they should be prohibited. And that's what we're doing here today."
Meanwhile, Republican governors like Kristi Noem of South Dakota have called out Inslee for attacking gun rights and paraded their states' records on the Second Amendment.
"We all know that Inslee is one of those left-leaning, socialist governors that oppresses his people," Noem recently told Newsmax's "Eric Bolling The Balance."
"That's just not our story here in South Dakota. So I'm proud that we're the most Second Amendment state in the country," she added.
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