Gun sales surged last month, with the over 2 million firearms bought in January marking an 80% year-over-year increase and the second-highest total for one month on record, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal gun background check data.
Record-highs in gun sales were set in 2020, when almost 23 million guns were bought — a 64% increase over the previous year, the Post reports. March saw an estimated 2.1 million firearms sold as the coronavirus pandemic led to uncertainty and panic-buying, and sales climbed to 2.8 million in June and 2.5 million in July as the protests over George Floyd's death led to civil unrest.
Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School professor Steven Dulan told the Post that first-time gun buyers commonly said they did not believe police departments could protect them after some agencies were overwhelmed during the summer's racial justice protests.
"The folks that said they would never become a gun owner were trusting the police to protect them, and that delusion has been dispelled," Dulan said.
The record number of guns sold in January of 2021 continues the trend of high gun sales in the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the beginning of President Joe Biden's administration, which favors harsher restrictions on guns.
Michigan and New Jersey saw the largest increases in gun sales in January over the same month in 2020, the Post's analysis shows.
The Post notes it is common for gun sales to spike when a Democrat takes office. Three individual weeks in January saw record-high numbers of background checks and made it into the top five highest weeks of checks registered through the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
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