The number of firearms background checks performed by the FBI in January fell to 2.04 million from 2.55 million in January 2016.
The January decline comes after 19 straight months of record year-over-year increases under the Obama administration, from May 2015 through November 2016. January’s total still saw the third most checks for any January going back to 1998 despite its drop off from record-setting pace.
Annual records were set in each of the final two years of President Obama’s tenure, with 23 million background checks conducted in 2015 and 27 million last year.
While the number of background checks processed by the FBI system indicates a trend in firearm sales, it doesn’t provide a precise figure for the number of firearms actually sold. Most states don’t require a NICS check on sales between non-dealers and that more than one firearm can be purchased with a single check are some of the factors that lower the measures accuracy.
“These statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS,” the FBI noted in its report. “They do not represent the number of firearms sold. Based on varying state laws and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.”
Under the Obama Administration, firearms sales soared over fears of tighter gun control legislation. But it was also a volatile period as gun sales spiked often following a terrorist incident and then too-quickly ebbed to leave an over-inventoried marketplace. Firearms background checks were also up in months before the election with many predicting a win by Hillary Clinton. Sales are expected to slow at least initially under the Trump administration.
