So you want to buy a firearm during a pandemic

[Scott B.]

NICS ran pretty good today. Still a 50/50 shot without a LTC. I'm about done in though. I could use a couple of weeks of forced staycation.

[Rafe]

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System reports show that they processed 3,091,455 background checks in May 2020. The all-time record was March 2020, when everybody realized the Coronapocalypse was real and, for people who didn't own a gun, the "Oh My Gosh" moment hit them. But since December 2015, those are the only two months that the number surpassed 3 million checks.

A quick glance shows the all-time highest months as:

1. 2020, March: 3,740,688
2. 2015, December: 3,314,594
3. 2020, May: 3,091,455
4. 2019, December: 2,936,894
5. 2020, April: 2,911,128

In the first five months of 2020, the system processed 15,248,440 firearm purchase background checks. That exceeds the annual totals of all years from 1998 through 2010, and falls only about 1.2 million short of 2011. The previous annual record was last year, with 28.37 million checks. Just five months into 2020 and we're at almost 54% of the number.

Compared to the same months in 2019, the 2020 activity shows:

• January: 24.83% increase
• February: 36.45% increase
• March: 41.43% increase
• April: 24.71% increase
• May: 31.58% increase

Of course there is no one-to-one correlation between NICS checks and firearm purchases. But I do hope the numbers cause significant heartburn and sleepless nights to people like George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, the Giffords, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, to name only a few. Guess what, folks? The American people are far more well-armed than you ever dreamed of early in your political careers.

https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nic ... r.pdf/view

[Scott B.]

From ground level, can confirm the crazy has not abated. Actually busier now than during peak covid because I started teaching classes again which I'm doing on my one day off (brilliant!).

Inventory at distributors right now is slim to none. Things started to recover from quarantine and then wham - civil unrest. Now we're swinging back toward more active covid while staring down the barrel of a contentious election. All we need locally (on the gulf coast) is a hurricane or perhaps a plaque of locusts.

[rtschl]

So COVID and Riots have surpassed Obama as the greatest gun seller in American history:

https://freebeacon.com/issues/record-se ... tores-dry/

There have now been an estimated 8.3 million firearms sold in the United States since March—a record-setting pace likely to make 2020 the greatest year for gun sales in American history if the trend continues.

"Obama was the best gun sales in the country they claimed," Brandon Wexler, owner of Wex Gunworks in Delray Beach, Fla., told the Washington Free Beacon. "No, Covid19 is."

He said sales picked up in March and have continued strong since then, with new spikes appearing over the last month.

"Pretty much everything is out of stock," he said. "We have been doing it since the late '70s and have never seen literally no supply available. As of last week, at all major distributors you could not get any guns. Everything was literally sold out. Can’t even get hearing protection."

[johncanfield]

My breakfast buddies are reloaders and we were just talking about the ammo shortage, apparently 9mm bullets are even scarce. I think they can still get brass. When Our Former Dear Leader was reelected, that morning I bought my Bushmaster. 308 and starting acquiring more ammo and guns. That habit was difficult to slow down.

[flechero]

My breakfast buddies are reloaders and we were just talking about the ammo shortage, apparently 9mm bullets are even scarce.

True, for the most part... if they are open to lead or lead coated, it's not too bad. You can still score some FMJ and JHP but you have to be willing to put in a few minutes a day to check inventory at your prefered suppliers.

[SQLGeek]

My breakfast buddies are reloaders and we were just talking about the ammo shortage, apparently 9mm bullets are even scarce. I think they can still get brass. When Our Former Dear Leader was reelected, that morning I bought my Bushmaster. 308 and starting acquiring more ammo and guns. That habit was difficult to slow down.

Small pistol primers are scarce too. I managed to scrounge 1K from Midway and Powder Valley had some CCI 500 the other day so it comes and goes.

I did put an order in for 1K 9mm bullets from RMR today also. Estimated ship time is 4-6 weeks. Fortunately I don't need 9mm right now.

This time has really cured my desire to buy a new gun. I'm all in on reloading right now.

[Nuts]

1 month in on waiting for 1k 9mm hp from rmr. Did get 1k coated from ibejiheads. They shipped in 2 days last month.

[RPBrown]

My wife gave me a card for Father’s Day that says, “good for (1) smith and Wesson 629 Or comparable revolver when you find one you want. Problem is everyone is out of stock

[slowpoke]

Waiting since April 17th for a bulk order from Precision Delta .

[Ruark]

I'm seeing the same thing. Nobody has ANY major handgun or rifle calibers (9mm/45acp, 223/5.56) and very little of anything else, unless it's some cheap junk ammo or big 1000-round boxes. Cabinets are bare, except for some revolvers and some high-end race guns. Every place I've been in, people have been just lined up waiting to look at guns, and sales people feverishly rushing back and forth.

Your best bet might be a little mom and pop gun shop in a small rural town somewhere.

12 million in one month? Wow. Hope they'll remember in November.

I feel sorry for people in places like Kaliforna, Chicago, NJ, etc. who can't just go to a gun store and buy something.

[strogg]

I'm seeing the same thing. Nobody has ANY major handgun or rifle calibers (9mm/45acp, 223/5.56) and very little of anything else, unless it's some cheap junk ammo or big 1000-round boxes. Cabinets are bare, except for some revolvers and some high-end race guns. Every place I've been in, people have been just lined up waiting to look at guns, and sales people feverishly rushing back and forth.

Your best bet might be a little mom and pop gun shop in a small rural town somewhere.

12 million in one month? Wow. Hope they'll remember in November.

I feel sorry for people in places like Kaliforna, Chicago, NJ, etc. who can't just go to a gun store and buy something.

Time for a story about my friend in Kalifornistan who bought his first gun. He arrived at the store on 6/13 at 9:30AM only to camp out behind some other folks until 10:00AM when they opened. He got a ticket that said he'd be served at around 12:30PM. At roughly that time, he went in, took his firearm safety test, got his firearm safety certificate, then filled out his 4473 and paid for the gun. He was told that his background check will come back in 10 days, and the new waiting period is 14 days. So he can come back in 14 days to wait in line again to pick up the gun... Or so he thought. 14 days came and went, but his background check was held up by CA DOJ. He got an email from the FFL on the 30th, 17 days after he signed the paperwork. His background check finally came through with a thumbs up. So now he has to go back to the FFL, wait in line for 3 hours again, and he can finally walk home with his gun.

But what about ammo? When he was at the store, they had a few boxes of 9mm range ammo available. But because of the background check requirements, he was unable to purchase or even put a deposit on the ammo. At this point, I'm pretty sure he'll be unable to find any range ammo. He should still find defensive ammo, so at least he's good there. But the poor guy won't be able to practice with anything other than Gold Dots or whatever defensive ammo he purchases. That is assuming he can find any. I guess he can buy online, but he'll have to ship it to an FFL and pay a transfer fee for it.

So if the gun laws were friendly, he would've been able to walk away with his new handgun and ammo for it on 6/13 so he can both enjoy range time, learn how to use and care for the gun, and be able to defend himself. Now he's stuck with having to pick up the gun over 3 weeks after the initial purchase (he's unable to go this week due to work obligations) and not have any ammo to practice and learn. He may finally be able to defend himself, but it may not be terribly effective due to the lack of training and knowledge.

[ammoboy2]

Sounds like your friend needs to take a vacation out of state with his new firearm. He might still have ammo issues but he could easily buy it if he found it or maybe or a case from an outfit like SG ammo and have it delivered to a second party out of state.

[SigM4]

Sounds like your friend needs to take a vacation out of state with his new firearm. He might still have ammo issues but he could easily buy it if he found it or maybe or a case from an outfit like SG ammo and have it delivered to a second party out of state.

Oh but that’s very illegal according to CA law. And I’m sure no one in a similar situation would ever do anything of that nature.

[ammoboy2]

Yes, I would not propose anything illegal, but he could easily take a class in AZ or Nevada.