Gun Sales Surge On Fears Of Pandemic, Social Unrest, As Many Proceed Without Proper Background Checks

Americans have bought or applied to buy guns at such a high rate during the pandemic that the FBI’s background check system has become overwhelmed and backlogged.

Due to such delays, FBI data revealed this week that some gun sales may have been approved without proper background checks.

According to the gun control advocacy group, Everytown for Gun Safety, which acquired FBI data through the Freedom Of Information Act, or FOIA, there has been a 54% spike in the number of background checks that were delayed past three days between March and July, compared with the same period last year.

For some government agencies, the pandemic-related lockdown may have made it more difficult to run background checks quickly and easily.

As a result, Everytown for Gun Safety said that “thousands of people prohibited by law from owning guns -- such as most convicted felons -- may have obtained them as the FBI background check was delayed.”

It also said that as many as 294,683 gun sales might have proceeded without a background check being completed -- more than for all of 2019.

A major factor behind the delayed checks has to do with the so-called “Charleston loophole,” a gap in federal law that permits gun sales if a background check has not been completed within three business days. That loophole was named after white supremacist Dylann Roof, who in 2015 murdered nine people in the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Roof used the same loophole to acquire his weapon.

Rob Wilcox, deputy director of policy and strategy at Everytown for Gun Safety, said President Donald Trump and the FBI should have allocated the people and resources needed to conduct these background checks on gun purchases.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, the [Justice Department] warned President Trump that the background check system was going to be overwhelmed -- but rather than addressing it, Trump added fuel to the fire by making it even easier to buy guns,” said Wilcox. “Now, this FOIA confirms that the worst has happened: thousands of guns have likely fallen into the wrong hands due [to] the Charleston loophole, and there’s no end in sight.”

Moreover, all uncompleted federal background check records are purged after three months, which means that most of the delayed records from March through May — an estimated 131,000 — are now permanently lost.

Everytown For Gun Safety also noted that more than one year ago, the House of Representatives passed House Majority Whip James Clyburn’s, D-S.C., legislation to address the Charleston loophole. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not even brought the bill to the floor for a vote.

Gun sales are believed to have surged this year due to rampant fears over the pandemic and widespread social unrest and protests.

In July alone, the FBI said it conducted more than 3.6 million firearm background checks, following an all-time record 3.9 million in June. The second-largest figure, 3.7 million, occurred in March, the first month of the pandemic.

In comparison, the FBI conducted 2 million background checks in July 2019.

Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, Florida and California topped the list of states where most background checks are requested.

Gun purchases and applications often spike after high-profile shootings. In 2012, background checks surged by 39% in the month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Following the 2015 domestic terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, the FBI reported a 48% surge in background checks within a month.

“Firearm sales go up in times of uncertainty because Americans know their safety is ultimately in their own hands,” Amy Hunter, a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, told CNN.

Gun control advocates are worried about the rapid proliferation of guns.

“My biggest concern involves the potential number of first-time gun buyers who, before March, did not think they needed a gun,” said David Chipman, a retired special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, blamed the White House.

“This administration has repeatedly worked to expand access to guns during a national pandemic and has encouraged folks to take up arms and intimidate their governors into reopening the government,” Volsky said.

Georgia, which has a strong gun culture, has seen sales surge this summer.

“People are buying weapons now because they see [police officers] carrying guns and they are not respected and they are not safe -- so, what makes you think you and I are safe?” gun buyer Keith Miller told the Gainesville Times newspaper.

Kellie Weeks, owner of Georgia Gun Store in Gainesville, said the store sold 12,000 guns in 2019. "We’ve [already] exceeded that," Weeks said. "[Usually] the biggest [sales period] is the last quarter. Christmas is our biggest time. Summer is [typically] our slowest time.”

Her husband, Mike Weeks, said many of the gun buyers are first-time purchasers.

“In times past, the surge in sales was by the concern over losing gun rights or some sort of curtailment over gun rights,” Mike Weeks said. “But now, people aren’t necessarily worried about their gun rights being taken away. They’re worried about protecting themselves. They worried about what happens when the cops are defunded.”