Background checks stopped surge in attempted gun sales by individuals who can’t own firearms: FBI data

The group Everytown for Gun Safety obtained shocking new FBI data on gun sales in 2020 that it shared with Politico.

"Internal FBI data reveal a jarring new stat: The number of people trying to buy guns who can’t legally own them has skyrocketed. That came as part of a surge in gun purchases in the first three months of 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019," Politico reported. "And the change has raised concerns about gun safety."

"In March 2019, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) ran background checks on 823,273 attempted gun buys (the system immediately greenlights the vast majority of transactions). This past March, however, NICS processed more than 1.4 million background checks––a massive spike," Politico reported.

"The most dramatic shift, though, might be in how many people the system blocked from buying guns," Politico continued. "In March 2019 and February 2020, the NICS system blocked about 9,500 and 9,700, respectively. But in March 2020, it blocked more than double that amount: a whopping 23,692 gun sales."

John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown, called upon Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to take action.

“This FBI data confirms our fear that America’s background check system is completely overwhelmed, which means that more guns are slipping through the cracks and being sold to prohibited purchasers," Feinblatt said in a statement. "Mitch McConnell can stop this by taking action to close the Charleston loophole, but he’s too scared of the gun lobby's waning political power to do anything, even as gun violence rises in the midst of a pandemic.”