The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reported that the June 2024 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure declined 4.7 percent year-over-year to 1,059,037 compared to the June 2023 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,110,696.

The June decline was a sequential improvement from May, when the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure declined 7.2 percent, and April when the metric declined 11.2 percent year-over-year.

For comparison, the unadjusted June 2024 FBI NICS figure of 1,958,447 reflects a 9.0 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,152,187 in June 2023.

NSSF reported that June 2024 marks the 59th consecutive month exceeding one million adjusted background checks in one month.


The second quarter 2024 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 3,364,270, as reported by NSSF, shows a notable decrease of 7.9 percent when compared to the second quarter 2023 figure of 3,654,134.

NSSF said in its report that 24 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 these legal transfers based on qualifying permits, and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.

The adjusted NICS data, as explained by NSSF, were derived by a specific process 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 initiated the practice of subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.

While the NSSF-adjusted NICS data may not directly reflect firearms sales, it does offer a comprehensive view of current market conditions. NICS, in addition to its other functions, is a tool for checking transactions involving the sale or transfer 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 cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.

Data/Chart courtesy NSSF