Black Friday At The OK Corral

Instead of coal, it appears that many shoppers have filled their Christmas stockings with another substance, gunpowder.

USA Today reported that the FBI’s National Instant Check center logged more than 129,000 background check requests last Friday, a new record surpassing the 97,848 checks conducted on Black Friday in 2008. The National Shooting Sports Foundation credits much of the buying to the realization by increasing numbers of citizens that they have a constitutional right to own guns. Also, more women are getting involved in shooting sports, including hunting, and more are carrying firearms for personal protection.

“Americans hope for the best,” Gottlieb said, “but they prepare for the worst. Some call that ‘panic’ but in reality, it is prudence. While there are some small signs of improvement, there remains a vast landscape of uncertainty. Sensible people have evidently concluded that it is better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it.”

A mandatory background check is completed by the FBI every time a firearm is purchased in an FFL (Federal Firearms License) licensed premise. The clerk selling the weapon must phone in the request and get approval before the firearm leaves the shop. Of course any private sales of firearms are not subject to this restriction.