The Great Gun Sales Boom Of 2021 Isn’t Over Just Yet

The stock market continues to soar to new heights and has smashed records this spring, while businesses continue to hire back workers. The country is beginning to return to normal – or at least settling into a “new normal,” and in such times gun sales might be expected to level off.

However, last month saw another period of strong sales for gun retailers, according to the latest FBI figures released this week. The FBI conducted more than 3.5 million gun-related background checks in April, a twenty percent year-over-year increase from April 2020.

Nearly 1.7 million of the background checks were for gun purchases, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry’s leading trade group. It uses the FBI data with actual sales figures provided by firearm retailers to determine how many guns are sold monthly.

“April marked 13 months of elevated firearm sales, which have ranged between 1.5 million and 2 million each month,” NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva told CNN. “Firearm sales spiked in March 2020 and have remained at unprecedented levels since. It’s a remarkable feat of firearm manufacturers to keep pace with this blistering demand.”