New York Eying Record-Level Gun Sales

New York to record its second-highest level of annual gun sales ever at 2021’s close.

QUICK FACTS:
  • After 2020’s record gun sales, FBI pre-sale background checks show that New Yorkers are on pace to buy their second greatest number of firearms since the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background System) check program went into effect, according to Field and Stream.
  • “There have been 425,778 firearm background checks in New York in the first 11 months of 2021, far surpassing pre-pandemic gun-buying levels in 2019, when the FBI reported 355,374 total firearm background checks in the state,” reports The Hudson Valley Times Union.
  • Steve Meyen from Mid-Hudson Sporting spoke to the surge in gun sales, saying, “The increase in new shooters has been astronomical.”
  • Joe Bartozzi from National Shooting Sports Foundation president noted that strong gun sales are being seen across the U.S.: “This year has already been shaping up to be the second strongest year for firearm sales on record, second only to 2020’s record-breaking number of 21 million background checks for a firearm sale.”
WHAT THE NRA SAID:
  • This upward trend in gun buying—and who is exactly buying them—is mirrored nationally, notes the NRA: “Since the surge in gun-buying began at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, those in the firearms industry and the news media have made two important observations: 1. The increase in gun purchasing included many first-time gun buyers; 2. Those purchasing firearms did not conform to stereotypes about the typical American gun owner.”
BACKGROUND:
  • Firearm ownership is becoming increasingly diverse, as sales among women accounted for 40% of all sales nationwide, and purchases within the Black demographic increased by 56% when compared to 2019.

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