TEXAS, USA — It's a usual trend nationwide. Gun sales tend to rise around the same time major incidents and events are occurring in the country.
That trend applies in Texas as well, according to a national study conducted by the Brookings Institute, an independent think-tank.
The Brookings Institute produced a graph tracking firearm sales from 2010 to present. It shows that every time some sort of incident occurred, gun sales climbed -- the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2013; the San Bernardino terrorist attack in 2016; the Parkland, Fla. shooting at a school in 2018; and most recently the social unrest and COVID-19.
According to the study, firearms sales in June were the highest on record, with 3.9 million sold.
"2020 has been a year unlike any other when it comes to firearm sales," said Mark Oliva of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearm industry trade association. He said his own research and survey of gun sales shows the dramatic increase.
"We are seeing firearms sales increase across the country," Oliva said. "It is not localized to one area. It is in red states. It is in blue states."
Oliva said the U.S. has never seen so much firearm commerce, and what's happening nationally is also happening in Texas.
"So far in Texas, in 2020, there have been 1.35 million background checks for the sales of firearms," Oliva said.
"Last year, in 2019, there were 1.13 million background checks. So far, there have been more guns sold in Texas in 2020 than all 12 months of 2019."
The 2020 National Survey of Retailers conducted by the firearm industry trade association showed that 40-percent of the people who bought guns between March and May -- approximately 2.5 million people -- were first-time buyers.
Oliva said those who are prompting the jump in sales are those who have always wanted to buy a gun, but were hesitant until now.
The type of gun being sold more than any other is the handgun.
"These are guns that are going to be used to defend yourself, in your home or when you're out and about," Oliva said.
"This is not the type of gun that you're going to use to go duck hunting. This is not the type of gun to hunt deer. These are protective use firearms."
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