The January 2021 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) plunged 40.9 percent to 1.19 million from 2.05 million in January 2021.
For comparison, the unadjusted January 2022 FBI NICS figure 2,533,096 reflects a 40.9 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 4,288,240 in January 2021.
NSSF said January 2022 marks the 30th month in a row that has exceeded 1 million adjusted background checks in a single month.
NICS firearms background checks, as adjusted by the NSSF, started turning negative in March of 2021 against the tough year-ago comparisons as firearms checks in 2020 were boosted by the pandemic, social unrest and the election.
The fourth quarter 2021 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 4.76 million reflects a decrease of 15.3 percent over the 5.6 million figure for fourth-quarter 2020. Total NSSF-adjusted NICS figures for 2021 declined 21.2 percent to 18.5 million, still the second-highest year on record. The 2020 annual total of 21.1 million was a 59.7 percent increase over the 2019 annual total of 13.2 million.
Photo courtesy Blue Ridge Marksmanship
