Report: Gun Sales Rise More Than 11% in Year

Sales of guns have surged by more than 11 percent since March 2017, Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting reported.

Firearms sales estimates in the March 2018 report were 1,594,988 units, an 11.4 increase.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) also reported an increase, to the fourth highest point in the system’s history, with 2,767,699 checks, the FBI reported.

NICS also noted an increase in checks for concealed carry permits and other permits, the Washington Examiner reported.

Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting chief economist Jurgen Brauer said that gun restrictions in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shootings may have contributed to the increase.

"While the renewed national debate on firearms regulation following the February 14 mass shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., had surprisingly little effect on February sales figures, this seems to have been made up for in the March sales figures, perhaps because a number of states actually proposed and passed age limitations and other restrictions on firearms sales," Brauer said in the Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting report.

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