Gun background checks reach record on Black Friday
A record number of gun background checks were processed in the United States on Black Friday.
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICBCS) processed 185,345 requests on November 27 — the most ever in one day.
“This was an approximate 5 per cent increase over the 175,754 received on Black Friday 2014,” Stephen Fischer, the FBI’s multimedia productions chief, told USA Today.
“The previous high for receipts were the 177,170 received on 12/21/2012.”
Black Friday is one of the world’s biggest retail shopping sale days and occurs every year the day after Thanksgiving.
Background checks are conducted in the US every time someone purchases a gun from a federal licensed dealer.
The figure is seen as a proxy tracker of gun sale numbers in the US.
Background check numbers have also spiked after prominent mass shootings, like in December 2012 following the Sandy Hook Primary School massacre.
These numbers rise when individuals feel threatened or when they suspect gun laws in the US are about to tighten.
Federally licensed gun sellers can deny firearms to people who fail background checks.
The criteria for the checks take into account criminal backgrounds, domestic violence convictions and restraining orders.