Official 2012 FBI Gun Sale Total Numbers Are In! Up 39% Nationally!

We've all been watching the headlines. We've all known the numbers were going to be high.

States have had their locally run NICS equivalent systems crashing and drawing staff from other critical areas to maintain the ability to process these as required by law.

The FBI itself has made statements of being overwhelmed as far back as Black Friday at even their level and unconfirmed reports, as I'd last seen them, had even suggested NICS checks in some states becoming unavailable entirely for brief periods.

Well, now we know exactly why this has been the case and there is no conspiracy to this one.



There is a public in very determined movement to purchase everything they've 'meant to buy' and never got around to. I believe we see a public in something just shy of a panic mode for buying. These numbers are truly incredible when the overall volume the %'s relate to are properly considered.

Each of the 50 States and Washington, D.C. saw an increase in background checks in the month of December 2012, with every state posting an increase of at least 12%.

The top five states that saw the largest December increases were as follows:

Georgia, 66.3%
Oregon, 63.1%
New Hampshire, 60.7%
Texas, 60.2%
Montana, 58.3%

Source - CNSNews

Now I understand that is a source of news that not everyone may agree with for taking at face value. There may even be some who would discount the numbers out of hand and never click through to see if there may be a linked source with more credibility, easily accessible. It's for that reason I'll insure this also links up to the raw summary reports as well:

NICS Firearm Background Checks - Year 1998 Through 2012 / January 1, 1998 - December 31, 2012

(Included for Further information: (N)ational (I)nstant Criminal Background (C)heck (S)ystem)

I must say that I expected high numbers. I didn't expect this high. It's staggering to me. I was in the middle of the buying craze in 08/09 and invested pretty heavily in quite a bit. That was nothing like this is today. Firearms that were $600 just a day before the shooting we all know so well are now $1600 on nationally known classified gun sales sites. National Auction sites also show the surge as this one stands to show any who cares to go searching for what is currently on sale.

U.S. National Firearms and Accessories Auction System / GunBroker

(It's important to note that the above site ships only to Federal Firearm Licensed (FFL) Dealers and at point of physical sale, a NICS check is run to verify legal eligibility before the weapon is handed to the auction winner. Commonly, these ship to a gun store local to the buyer who is charged a modest fee for the handling of the final legal steps)

Statements made at the 'Crossroads Of The West' gun show in Ontario, California are characteristic of what is being seen from Coast to Coast!

Vendors such as Ron Mantel remember a spike in sales back in 2008.

"When Obama first got voted in 2008, you couldn't get ammunition for almost two years," Mantel said. "Now that this shooting happened, and that Obama is pushing, gun sales have gone crazy in like the last two months, three months. Ammunition, again, you can't get it. You can go to the Walmart, you can go to the stores, there's no ammo on the shelves anymore. It's just nuts."

The demand for firearms and ammo is so high, according to Olcott, some of her regulars couldn't make it to the Ontario event because they didn't have any product to sell.

Source - Ch. 4 NBC News, Southern California

This goes beyond simply joking about President Obama or Senator Feinstein being good boosters for the Firearms Industry. People are more than nervous. People are scared. The numbers reflect it. This rush of buying is happening at a time when the economy is rough. Unemployment is climbing back up as indicated in other headlines today and a good % of our nation is financially hurting. The ability to "find a way" to buy this much, this fast, is sobering and should stand as the ultimate American Opinion Poll, in my humble opinion.

The people are speaking. They're actually yelling. If money can be said to be the ultimate 'Speaker of The House' in the average home? Well, it's off on something akin to reading War and Peace.....veeerrrryyyyy slllooowwwwlllllyyyyyy.

Buy 'em if you need 'em! Assuming, you can find them to buy. For those stocked? It looks like a true sellers market for the indefinite future.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
. People are more than nervous. People are scared. The numbers reflect it. This rush of buying is happening at a time when the economy is rough. Unemployment is climbing back up as indicated in other headlines today and a good % of our nation is financially hurting. The ability to "find a way" to buy this much, this fast, is sobering and should stand as the ultimate American Opinion Poll,

They see the handwriting on the wall.
They aren't scared so much as resigned to what's coming.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

fantastic news and i still think 'gunsmithing' will be the new hobby of this century.
either that or re-loaders ... can't go wrong with either these days.

I think this speaks volumes on how the American public feels about the second amendment!!! Keep buying America!!!!

God forbid Obama tries a confiscation maneuver. That will not go well for him, or the people sent to do the confiscating.

reply to post by Honor93


Don't worry Honor93 the people in the know will kick it Pakastani style when they ban the guns.

People are not buying in these numbers just to turn them in... Trouble brewing in paradise for Obama & crew if they want to push a gun ban... My guess is congress will not pas it and they will pull a false flag to keep escalating their actions to try and turn public sentiment... Since even the sacrifice of children did not fool the people this time...

reply to post by GuidedKill

awwwwwe, i wish i could view videos but i cannot, however, thanks for the concern and re-inforcement. i do have faith in my fellow men/women (all over the world) and i do like your avatar

kinda reminds me of the cats when we're cleaning our tools ... they love to get in the strangest positions with them ... i want to post pics but with my luck, i'll be deemed some fruitcake (not that i haven't been already ) who doesn't deserve the animals or something totally stupid and irrelevant like that.

anyway, thanks for the thoughts

reply to post by GuidedKill


So much for law abiding citizens then aye?

Ready to become illegal merchants in the blink of an eye, to keep their weapons.



Suuurree...

reply to post by winofiend


It was really more of a joke.

Originally posted by winofiend
reply to post by GuidedKill

 

So much for law abiding citizens then aye?

Ready to become illegal merchants in the blink of an eye, to keep their weapons.

Suuurree...

Nope ready to uphold the law of the land the United States Constitution and defend it from enemies of freedom foreign and domestic!

Anyone who thinks government can pass a law and take rights away does not deserve to be an American!

To give some folks a bit of context here on what is happening, I've chosen to use the Ruger BX-25 Magazine as an example. This isn't a magazine for some scary looking 'Assault Rifle' or a "Black Rifle" such as an AR-15 or AR-10. It's not, despite the interesting designation, anything all that special. At least, it wasn't all that special until the threat of renewed bans on magazines came into play. Now? (gulp) I only wish...I could have guessed ahead. Oh..how easily I could have bought cases of these just a few months ago and with no serious troubles then. A half dozen of them today would be close to my mortgage payment on the house I'm sitting in.

First, the magazines go to this:


(Source: Ruger Firearms)

Just a humble .22 Rifle shooting one of the smallest cartridges available out of what most consider to be an outstanding starter rifle. In fact, these are what I've seen the Missouri Department of Conservation using to teach orientation classes for brand new shooters out at their controlled and staffed range nearby.

They used to cost this:


(Source - Midway USA)

Now hang onto your profit margins and price gougers for what the active bidding is bringing:


(Source Auction)

I believe the Wal-Mart price chopper could be of use to that poor buyer. The price there, $140 for the pair, is what it closed at a few moments later.

This isn't even a very large magazine by 10-22 standards. Mine are 50rd stick magazines in addition to the standard Ruger 10rd magazine that ships with it. There were single 25rd magazines up there for $150. Soon? Who knows what they might bring. It's real madness and panic. NO one ....but NO ONE ...in their right mind and with any sanity at all would buy at these prices if they seriously believed this wasn't a closing window of opportunity.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Texas, 60.2%

Man, I knew it was going crazy in my area of Texas and thought it would be roughly 45%. Wow, over 60%. Not to mention multiple guns can be bought with just 1 background check.

Out of all the places Ive been visiting the past few weeks, Academy, Bass Pro, local range, ect.....everything is still bare. The only exception was at my local range yesterday. They finally got 2 Saiga 12's in, but the price was insane. $1,800 each. Just a few months ago, they were selling them for $700-$900. I talked with some employees there and they also said some guy called in and tried to buy every last box of 9mm ammo they had left, but they told him to buzz off and now they only allow people who use the range that same day to buy the ammo.

I also talked to the gun counter employees at Academy yesterday about the craze going on. They said they were still selling stuff pretty fast, but it's starting to slow down. A month ago there were roughly 20 people in line waiting to fill out the 4473 the day I was there. Yesterday there were only about 5 people waiting. I picked up a Beretta M9 yesterday and was suprised that my NICS check went through as fast as it did. I asked them about why they had to take their AR's off display and they said it was because basically...... Corporate didnt want a bunch of people going crazy and buying stuff they know nothing about. You can still pick up an AR there, but you have to tell the gun counter guys the exact Manufacturer and Model. You cant just walk up and say "Hey, you got any AR's back there?"

Seems to me that Academy may be doing the right thing. They're saving their AR's for people who actually know what they want and keeping them hidden from the rush buyers.

reply to post by buni11687

Funny you should mention the Saiga 12. I'd had the opportunity 2 years ago to get one in a trade for a Mini-14 I had then. Oh...I should have... Lost opportunities. The auction site had one tonight for $5,500 in a featured listing. Nothing special to it but a scope (err... slugs?) and a drum magazine.


I tend to agree with you on the AR- availability. Although that's a bit harsh needing to know the precise manufacturer. Umm.. Which one? The last gun show would have had at lest a half dozen flavors of AR-15 common across all the tables. The only exceptionally rare one is a true blue Colt.

I wouldn't want to see every Homer in a panic buying them up though, no. I've seen more newbie morons on the ranges I go to with "Gun Show AR-15's" than anything else. That specific make seems to be an idiot magnet. The more expensive ones? Oh, Homer can't be bothered with quality when mass produced aluminum rifles are what look cool and have the most doodads to strap on and clip to rails on every possible surface.

Heck, a high quality rifle can't do THIS after all.

Works on most AR15, M4, and M16 rifles; replaces your muzzle brake or flash hider. Machined out of solid-stock steel, shoots golf balls over 250 yards using .223 BLANKS , do not use live rounds. No gunsmithing required.

Source

(Only in America, right?)

Just another fantastic thread !!!!



I swear, you keep hitting them out of the park. The information gathered is invaluable, and gives those on ATS the reasons why we can hold out hope for this Country.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Good Thread and there you go again posting before I get to the bottom of the thread.... we've really got to stop meeting like this Wrabbit.

I got a 10/22 Tactical for my birthday with standard BX25 mag. I had to purchase a 10 rounder for compactness, so I got 3 more 25 round mags as well. Haven't tried the 50 round mags yet - but they're still available at sporting goods outlets online at "normal" $50 prices - Ruger 25 round mags have doubled in price locally to around $50.

Last weekend I went to the Fort Worth gun show - it was NUTS! One guy had a 40 round 1911 drum mag for $200 - the 20 round Saiga 12 mag was $400 - I gave him a good laugh and wished him good luck! Only saw one beat up Saiga 12 with pistol grip/folding stock and 4 10-12 round mags for $2000 and I'm thinking that it may be time to take a profit on my unfired one with new gas check and several mags, but then again I might as well just keep it. By 2pm Sunday afternoon, most vendors were out of .223 ammo and the only vendors with any had 1000 rounds for $850 and 2000 rounds for $2000 - like I said this is STUPID money for this stuff when you can still buy online if you're willing to wait for it.

ganjoa

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


That golf ball launcher could be good as a non lethal home protection device and perhaps it could encourage golf playing in certain states so instead of asking the caddy for a 7 iron you ask for an m-16 but i'd imagine a 10 ball auto loader is still on the drawing board?

Off to patent the idea of gun-golf with 50 cal rifles for 400 yard shots down to small caliber pistols for putting...could be a winner

reply to post by Maxatoria

lol... Now that is an idea I hope gets a few more stars. That's downright creative and cute! I've played "frisbee golf" where the object was to throw a frisbee into huge metal baskets laid out across a big city park...so heck, why not for gun golf? (probably not inside a city on that one, I'd imagine..) I hadn't thought of it that way, but I'd give it a shot. (pun intended)

Build it and I'll just bet they will come!

As for nonlethal home defense ... That would get a little awkward if your physically above the bad guy and have to aim down before firing eh? (imagines the golf ball rolling out and harmlessly bouncing down the stairs while the defender is trying to will himself to teleport elsewhere quickly)

but obama is taking your guns !!!!!

looks like the gun dealer propaganda worked

sad

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Perhaps a gravity fed tube to provide the balls and a one way thing like they have on car parks strong enough just to keep the ball in place but not to stop it from leaving and you could also make all sorts of ammo from solid projectiles to perhaps gas/pepper/party streamers so you could have it work for all sorts of events not just life or death ones

Pity i'm in the UK as i could probably make a mint from this idea in the states..oh well the high class prostitutes and champagne lifestyle will have to wait