Firearm-related background checks reached 3.9 million in June, the most since the tracking system was created more than two decades ago amid multiple crises in the coronavirus pandemic, an economic downfall and protests over police brutality and racial injustice.
The lastest numbers are the most since the FBI began tracking such checks in 1998.
More than 19 million checks -- a key barometer for gun sales -- were conducted in the first half of 2020, more than all of 2012 and many years prior. Gun sales usually see an uptick in presidential election years over fears an incoming president could restrict access to firearms.
