The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reported that the March 2024 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure declined 7.4 percent year-over-year to 1,442,061 compared to the March 2023 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,556,492.

For comparison, the unadjusted March 2024 FBI NICS figure of 2,497,577 reflects a 15.5 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,954,230 in March 2023.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reported that the March 2024 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure declined 7.4 percent year-over-year to 1,442,061 compared to the March 2023 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,556,492.

For comparison, the unadjusted March 2024 FBI NICS figure of 2,497,577 reflects a 15.5 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,954,230 in March 2023.

Twenty-four states have at least one qualified alternative permit which, under the Brady Act, allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check for that transfer. The number of NICS checks in these states does not include the legal transfers based on qualifying permits, and the NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.

March 2024 marked the 56th month in a row that exceeded 1 million adjusted background checks in one month.

The adjusted NICS data comes from subtracting out NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks used by states for CCW permit application checks and checks on active CCW permit databases. NSSF started subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.

Though there is no direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provides another picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms.

These statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS. They do not represent the number of firearms sold or sales dollars. Based on varying state laws, local market conditions and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation between a firearm background check and a firearm sale cannot be made,

Data and graphics courtesy NSSF