20 States Where Gun Sales Are Plummeting

Last month, President Biden signed a new executive order designed to increase the likelihood that background checks be initiated before guns are sold in the United States. And though many polls indicate that the vast majority of Americans – Republicans and Democrats alike – support universal background checks, the President’s new order does not extend that far. Instead, the order gives attorney general Merrick Garland greater authority to ensure that gun dealers are complying with current background check laws, whatever they may be. The White House said the order would move the U.S. “as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.” 

Last month, nearly three million firearm background checks were conducted in the United States, according to data compiled by the FBI. That figure represents a substantial increase of more than 450,000 checks, or 18% compared to February, when 2.5 million were conducted. But last month’s figure is more or less in line with that of March of 2022. Background checks are often used to approximate the level of gun sales. However, background checks can also be initiated for reasons that are not tied to gun sales, including rentals and pawn shop transactions. (Also see, the best-selling guns last year.)

To identify the states where gun sales are decreasing fastest, 24/7 Wall St. used data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, looking at the states with the largest percentage decrease in adjusted-firearm background checks from March 2022 to March 2023. To reach a more accurate approximation of gun sales, we excluded checks for such categories as pawn shop transactions, returns, rentals, and rechecks (which are conducted periodically by some states on existing permit holders). 

Even after removing some types of checks that are clearly unrelated to a new firearm purchase, background checks still serve only as a rough approximation, because every state has different background checks laws and accounting practices.

Click here to see 20 states where gun sales are plummeting.

Click here for a detailed methodology.

The states with the highest reported decreases in background checks in March compared to the same period in 2022 include both those that tend to rank relatively low each month in checks per capita and those that rank among the highest. 

For example, Alabama, which had the third-largest decrease in background checks, at 23.5%, had the fifth-most adjusted background checks per capita in March at 10.9 per 1,000 residents, down from a nation-leading 14.2 per 1,000 residents in March of 2022. Conversely, Rhode Island, which had the fourth largest decline in background checks, at 22.1%, had the 4th fewest adjusted background checks per capita in March at 2.2 per 1,000 residents. (These are the states where the most people bought guns last month.)

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