By: Teresa Mull

It appears gun control may be back-firing (how’s that for a shooting related word?!), as it always does.

Barack Obama’s presidency ushered in a new gun sales record in the United States. According to Outside Magazine, “…handgun sales grew by 287 percent annually from 2006 to 2013, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), while rifle and shotgun sales rose 166 percent.”

GPM has been reporting on the increased number of gun purchases and shortages of firearms and ammo since unrest from Coronavirus mandates, riots, and protests have seized our country.

NPR reported in July:

The FBI reported that Americans set a new record of 3.9 million background checks to purchase or possess firearms in June. That eclipsed the previous record set in March of 3.7 million background checks.

In fact, seven of 1o highest weeks for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is run by the FBI and was launched in 1998, have come this year. This includes the first four weeks in June.

Illinois registered the highest number of background checks last month, with 706,404. That state was followed by Kentucky (395,188), Texas (227,232), and Florida (210,415). California rounded out the top five background checks with 158,349.

By comparison, Washington, D.C., had 897 for the month of June, while Hawaii tallied 1,660 background checks and Vermont had 4,920, according to the FBI data.

Now, more gun control means more people are clamoring for guns – resulting in the opposite end liberals hoped for.

LocalDMV.com reports:

Thousands turned out over the weekend for the first gun show in Richmond since a new universal background checks law took effect earlier this summer.

It was also the first event of its kind since the coronavirus pandemic began back in March, according to the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Some have speculated that anxiety surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, months of civil unrest and a slew of new gun control laws in Virginia are contributing to above average sales for the gun industry.

According to data collected by Virginia State Police, 64,350 background checks were requested by federally licensed gun dealers in July 2020. That’s more than double the amount requested in July 2019.

The increase follows a record-setting month for estimated sales. June 2020 saw the highest total since VSP started recording this data in 1990 with 81,204 transactions.

Before the event started Saturday, the Showmaster’s website advised customers to come later in the day to avoid wait times and accommodate occupancy limits amid the pandemic.

Showmasters President Annette Elliott said it has been difficult to keep up with high demand and slowed production.

“The dealers are running out of guns. They’re running out of ammo. Even the manufacturers are backed up,” Elliott said.

Teresa Mull ([email protected]) is editor of Gunpowder Magazine.