Mass shootings or deals prompting guns for Christmas?
Illinoisans either really like Black Friday and after-Christmas sales for guns, or mass shootings are driving people to seek self-defense.
The FBI reported a record number of instant background checks nationwide on Black Friday, processing 185,345 requests on Nov. 27 through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
November was a big month for Illinoisans seeking guns, recording 129,861 FBI background checks. Monthly figures show Illinois residents seeking gun background checks often peaks around the holidays, following the national trend, and has grown steadily over the years.
Steve King, owner of Metro Shooting Supplies stores in Belleville and St. Louis, said Black Friday and the weekend were huge for him and most of the other store owners he’s talked with. He sold about 50 guns in Belleville and at least that many in St. Louis.
“Traditionally Black Friday is our biggest day of the year. Prices drive most of that, but we had sort of a perfect storm of hunting starting that week, Paris and more shooters with concealed carry permits. It was a tremendous weekend,” King said.
January 2013 holds the record for the month with the most firearm background checks, falling just below the 150,000 mark. The peak coincided with the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre of 12 people and the Sandy Hook Elementary murders of 26 children and staff.
Last month’s129,861 gun checks in Illinois roughly overlapped the timing of mass shootings in a black Charleston church and in Paris.
Columbine, Virginia Tech and Fort Hood shootings did not show many Illinois residents seeking gun background checks, although there appeared to be a correlation to those events in other states.
Whether the peaks are linked to self-defense or good deals on hunting weapons is unclear, but the FBI reported top-10 volume of daily record checks on this Black Friday as well as in 2014, 2013 and 2012.
Smartphone users please click here to see graphic.
This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Mass shootings or deals prompting guns for Christmas?."