GREENVILLE, SC, USA & HALIFAX, NS, CANADA – -(Ammoland.com)- Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting (SAAF) estimates February 2018 firearms sales at 1,320,734 units.
This continues the year-over-year decline in gun sales as seen from February 2016 (1,545,402 units) and February 2017 (1,353,150 units).
SAAF’s firearms unit sales estimates are based on raw data taken from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), adjusted for checks likely to be unrelated to end-user firearms sales. The FBI’s numbers cannot be taken at face-value as very large numbers of background checks are unrelated to end-user sales.
For example, in February the state of Kentucky conducted almost 390,000 so-called permit checks whereas end-user checks at firearms retailers amounted to just over 28,000 checks.
Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer comments that “despite the renewed national debate on firearms regulation following the February 14 mass shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., firearms unit sales do not appear to have been moved, leaving our annual firearms sales forecast of 14.5 million units unchanged for the time being.”
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Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting (SAAF) is a research consultancy focusing on the business & economics of the global small arms and ammunition markets. Politically unaffiliated, SAAF is an independent, evidenced-based resource for industry, advocacy, research, and policymaking alike, as well as for financial analysts and members of the media. Among other services, SAAF produces forecasts of U.S. civilian firearms unit sales, nationwide and for most states. Small Arms AnalyticsSM and Small Arms Analytics & ForecastingSM both are legally protected Service Marks of Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting. (Contact [email protected] for sales and other information.) www.SmallArmsAnalytics.com
