May 2018 became the third consecutive month of record background checks and the biggest May in history, as far as background checks are concerned.
FBI numbers show 2,002,992 background checks[1] were conducted in May 2018. The previous May record was 1,942,677 background checks conducted during that month in 2017.
This follows an April in which 2,223,213 background checks[2] conducted, setting the record for the highest number of checks in any April in history. And that followed a March which set the record for the highest number of background checks conducted during any March in history.
There were 19 consecutive months of record background checks under Barack Obama. Those began in May 2015 and lasted through November 2016. They were driven by a non-stop assault on the Second Amendment, characterized by attempts to secure all-out bans on certain types of weapons and “high capacity” magazines, as well as efforts to implement universal background checks and other controls.
Such fears largely vanished under the Trump administration and record levels of background checks faded. Then came the February 14, 2018, Parkland school shooting, which was immediately followed by leftist celebrities, student gun control activists, and the establishment media relentlessly pushing for all-out bans on certain types of weapons and “high capacity” magazines, as well as efforts to implement universal background checks and other controls.
Now background checks for gun sales are surging, NRA membership is up to 6 million, and donations to gun rights’ groups are increasing.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins[3], and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins[4], a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also
