7:28AM EST December 13. 2012 - The number of federally required background checks of prospective gun purchasers has nearly doubled in the past decade — a time when violent crime has been in long decline in many places across the USA, according to FBI records.
The bureau's National Instant Check System (NICS) does not track actual firearms sales — multiple guns can be included in one purchase. But the steady rise in background checks — from 8.5 million in 2002 to 16.8 million in 2012 — tracks other indicators that signal escalating gun sales.
Advocates on both sides of the gun-rights debate disagree over what is driving the trend. Gun-rights groups attribute the steady increase to the growing popularity of hunting and other gun-recreation uses, the impact of state laws allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns and concerns that the Obama administration will push for laws restricting weapons purchases.
Gun-control advocates, led by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, say existing gun owners are responsible for most new purchases (about 20% of gun owners possess 65% of the nation's guns, according to a 2006 Harvard study). Brady Campaign President Dan Gross said concerns about new gun-control laws are part of a "marketing ploy" to keep firearms moving.
No gun-control legislation was passed in President Obama's first term and no major proposal was offered during the 2012 presidential election campaign.
Still, there is an "expectation" that new gun-control proposals will surface in Obama's second term, said National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "People expect a siege on the Second Amendment (right to bear arms).''
Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said gun-related recreation — from hunting to target shooting on the range — is growing, too.
From 2006 through 2011, spending on hunting equipment grew by nearly 30%, according to a national survey published in August by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Keane said the overall firearms industry has thrived despite the sputtering economy and the decline in violent crime. "Personal safety still is a big reason people purchase firearms,'' Keane said. "The economic downturn, I think, raised fears that crime would eventually go back up."
"The industry appears to run counter to the economic cycle," he said. "When the economy is not doing well, the industry seems to be doing better."
In Wisconsin, when a law allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons took effect in November 2011, the FBI reported a corresponding surge in background-check requests by local gun dealers. Wisconsin was the 49th state to approve carrying a concealed weapon. Illinois is the only state without such a law.
State
2000
2012
Alabama
221,911
350,700 Alaska
39,959
72,904
Arizona
148,263
290,868 Arkansas
169,628
207,363
California
794,506
981,798 Colorado
307,512
361,385
Connecticut
87,586
208,250 Delaware
15,347
25,098
District of Columbia
17
398 Florida
266,035
699,974
Georgia
352,357
386,562 Hawaii
6,609
15,414
Idaho
77,138
115,927 Illinois
449,771
923,920
Indiana
182,319
404,259 Iowa
87,796
128,293
Kansas
96,716
175,427 Kentucky
229,896
2,329,151
Louisiana
174,706
266,593 Maine
45,028
79,418
Maryland
84,309
117,432 Massachusetts
54,843
185,202
Michigan
300,661
370,960 Minnesota
185,100
385,075
Mississippi
163,980
180,121 Missouri
191,578
432,060
Montana
71,115
115,893 Nebraska
44,825
70,454
Nevada
49,807
123,943 New Hampshire
40,120
108,531
New Jersey
37,106
75,804 New Mexico
84,034
121,882
New York
163,974
290,299 North Carolina
290,884
415,284
North Dakota
32,358
73,878 Ohio
274,165
526,684
Oklahoma
156,988
307,245 Oregon
135,336
222,795
Pennsylvania
481,294
835,293 Rhode Island
9,414
20,180
South Carolina
128,618
265,276 South Dakota
36,723
73,658
Tennessee
234,673
432,200 Texas
662,970
1,196,176
Utah
67,420
198,091 Vermont
20,300
29,662
Virginia
188,508
371,267 Washington
134,255
444,762
West Virginia
128,258
191,550 Wisconsin
180,492
413,842
Wyoming
34,295
53,480 Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2012/12/13/federal-gun-checks-surge-as-violent-crime-ebbs/
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