Gun Sales Are Collapsing in Arizona thumbnail

Gun Sales Are Collapsing in Arizona

By Samuel Stebbins

Editors’ Note: The statistics below should be compared with the next several six-month analyses following the SCOTUS New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision in favor of gun owners and their second amendment right for concealed carry without the need to show cause for that carry.

Gun sales in America, as estimated by background checks, jumped at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained high until well into 2021. Several days and weeks in that period set all-time records. Total sales were 28,369,750 in 2019 and 39,659315 in 2020. These figures come from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System — firearm background checks are often used as a proxy for gun sales.

During the period of the increase, the number of first-time gun buyers jumped. Sales also rose among women and minorities. First-time buyers have accounted for about 20% of new gun sales nationwide in 2020.

Recently, however, gun sales have collapsed, both month to month and year over year. The pace of the decline accelerated in June. June gun sales last year totaled 3,054,726 nationwide. Last month, nationwide gun sales totaled 2,570,608. Compared to the first six months of 2021, there were 6.4 million fewer background checks for the purchase of a firearm, a 28.7% drop.

In Arizona, gun sales are falling, but at a slower pace than the national decline. There were a total of 273,584 FBI firearm background checks in the state in the first half of 2022 compared to 322,799 in the first six months of 2021 — a 15.2% reduction and the 43rd largest decline among states.

Reasons for the slowdown are not as clear as those that explained the surge reported last year. The New York Times reported in May 2021, “While gun sales have been climbing for decades — they often spike in election years and after high-profile crimes — Americans have been on an unusual, prolonged buying spree fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, the protests last summer and the fears they both stoked.”

Rank State and Change in sales, 1st half 2021 to 1st half 2022. Background checks in 1st half of 2022 and Background checks in 1st half of 2021.

47 Delaware -8.4% 34,602 37,764

46 Minnesota -8.6% 458,568 501,936

45 New York -9.6% 221,579 245,023

44 California -10.1% 691,718 769,591

43 Arizona -15.2% 273,584 322,799

42 North Dakota -15.8% 35,732 42,421

41 Tennessee -16.2% 420,199 501,372

40 Montana -17.1% 70,552 85,087

39 Iowa -17.1% 127,848 154,243

38 Maine -17.4% 53,787 65,116

37 Oregon -17.7% 201,022 244,214

36 Alaska -18.0% 39,759 48,493

35 New Mexico -18.4% 86,322 105,821

34 Oklahoma -18.5% 180,342 221,221

33 Pennsylvania -18.9% 619,530 764,206

32 Idaho -19.3% 119,491 148,011

31 Texas -19.4% 855,905 1,062,416

30 Mississippi -19.6% 134,642 167,522

29 Louisiana -19.6% 170,127 211,706

28 Florida -19.8% 748,659 933,434

27 Vermont -19.8% 22,197 27,678

26 Utah -19.9% 506,367 632,562

25 Wisconsin -20.0% 316,376 395,468

24 Massachusetts -20.4% 113,472 142,631

23 Virginia -20.7% 278,978 351,987

22 South Carolina -20.9% 209,843 265,374

21 New Hampshire -21.7% 66,013 84,286

20 Kansas -21.9% 95,135 121,781

19 Colorado -21.9% 266,553 341,260

18 Wyoming -22.2% 35,169 45,201

17 West Virginia -22.6% 92,541 119,606

16 Nebraska -22.6% 38,309 49,518

15 Connecticut -22.9% 126,268 163,741

14 Nevada -23.0% 80,710 104,884

13 Missouri -24.4% 261,399 345,880

12 Maryland -24.5% 114,372 151,424

11 Michigan -26.1% 403,011 545,526

10 South Dakota -26.7% 41,772 56,973

9 Arkansas -27.1% 113,314 155,524

8 Alabama -27.4% 374,096 515,239

7 North Carolina -28.1% 316,997 440,812

6 Ohio -28.7% 336,981 472,354

5 Rhode Island -33.7% 15,157 22,853

4 Georgia -34.6% 302,270 461,957

3 New Jersey -40.1% 81,209 135,591

2 Indiana -45.0% 625,360 1,137,707

1 Illinois -65.9% 2,064,400 6,050,704

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This article was published by Center Square and is reproduced with permission.

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