The December 2022 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) declined 2.5 percent to 1.75 million compared to the December 2021 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1.79 million.

For comparison, the unadjusted December 2022 NICS figure of 2.995 million reflected a 2.7 percent decrease from the unadjusted NICS figure of 3.08 million in December 2021.

The fourth quarter 2022 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 4.53 million reflected a decrease of 4.9 percent over the 4.76 million figure for the fourth quarter 2021.

For the full year, NSSF’s adjusted NICS checks declined 11 percent in 2022 to 16.43 million from 18.5 million in 2021 and was down 22 percent from 2020’s all-time high.

NSSF said the 2022 annual adjusted NICS total represented the third highest year on record, exceeded by 2020 and 2021, respectively.