By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
UPDATE: A recently-released report by a Los Angeles-based group says Texas, Florida and California have so far this year led the nation in total gun sales, and that during the first four months of 2024, the nation saw nearly 5.5 million gun sales.
The report comes from SafeHome.org, a group which focuses on home and personal security options, while not providing retail sales or services. It might be described as a “Consumer Reports” sort of think tank focusing on home security, personal security, and home automation topics.
The report’s key findings include:
- Approximately 16.7 million firearms were sold in the U.S. in 2023, a 4% decline from 2022.
- Texas, Florida, and California lead the nation in total gun sales, accounting for 22% of guns sold in 2024 to date.
- Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska had the highest gun sales rates in 2023. In Montana, 1,586 guns were sold for every 10,000 residents aged 21+.
- Only four states—North Carolina, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Florida—had increased gun sales from 2022 to 2023.
- Washington, D.C., Delaware, New York, and Louisiana experienced the most significant year-over-year decreases in gun sales.
In 2023, according to the report, Washington, D.C., New York and New Jersey reported “relatively low firearms sales…due to their strong firearms laws, which include required background checks, red flag laws, and the requirement of handgun purchase permits. The higher population, urbanization, and broad public support for gun regulations in these states also contribute to their lower gun sales.”
After North Carolina dropped its requirement for a pistol purchase permit in March 2023, there was a “dramatic spike in registered gun sales” over the same period in 2022, the report said.
In Illinois, gun sales rose about five percent in 2023 over 2022, despite a tightening of the Prairie State gun control laws, the report said. This included a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines” which took effect in 2023.
In Florida, where the requirement for a concealed carry license was removed last year, “This change in legislation may have prompted a few more people to purchase firearms,” the report says.
The Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal noted that Beaver State gun sales per capita last year were the fourth-highest in the nation
“The only states with higher sales rates were Montana, Wyoming and Alaska,” the newspaper reported.
Gun sales in the U.S. peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have declined since. Even the National Shooting Sports Foundation has noted this in regular reports. Still, since mid-2021, the FBI’s National Instant Check System (NICS) raw data shows more than 2 million background checks have been logged each month. While this does not translate to more than 2 million gun transactions annually, it does reflect continued steady firearms sales. NSSF publishes monthly “NSSF-adjusted” NICS numbers to more accurately reflect the estimated number of actual gun sales.
TGM placed calls to both SafeHome,org and NSSF but so far, only NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva returned our inquiry.
“Their numbers are tracking pretty close to ours,” he told TGM.
He noted the NSSF data shows the country is in its 59th straight month of NSS-adjusted NICS data showing more than 1 million gun sales per month.
