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The nation’s gun craze propelled by politics and the coronavirus has now hit 16-straight months of shattering records, with April sales of at least 1.8 million and FBI background checks logging over 3.5 million.
The agency’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System recorded more checks in April 2021 than any other April. The FBI also said that each of the past 16 months has tallied record counts, dating back to December 2019.
Pushing the most recent surge has been concerns about President Joe Biden’s calls to ban semi-automatic firearms, namely AR-15-style rifles. They continue to be the most popular guns purchased in the United States.