The May 2018 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 904,834 is a decrease of 8.5 percent compared to the May 2017 figure of 988,473.
NICS checks were down 4.2 percent in April and increased 10.8 percent in March. May 2018 marked the fifth highest May on record.
For comparison, the unadjusted May 2018 FBI NICS figure of 1.98 million reflects a 4.5 percent increase from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 1.9 million in May 2017.
The adjusted NICS data was derived by subtracting out NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks used by states for CCW permit application checks, as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. NSSF started subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.
