When background checks for gun sales dipped below 1 million last July, anti-gun advocates sighed with relief. The nearly six-year-long streak had come to...

When background checks for gun sales dipped below 1 million last July, anti-gun advocates sighed with relief. The nearly six-year-long streak had come to an end, and gun-banners were hopeful it would usher in a new era of lower gun sales. Judging by the latest March numbers, those hopes were false. The March National Shooting Sports Foundation-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,412,917 is a 1.9% increase from the 1,386,724 in March 2025. It is also a 13% increase over the February total. For comparison, the unadjusted March 2026 FBI NICS figure of 2,212,094 reflects a 10.5% decrease from the unadjusted March 2025 figure of 2,470,705. The latest monthly total of over 1 million monthly...