In June of 2025, gun sales dropped 5% from June of 2024, according to the adjusted National Instant Background Check System (NICS) as calculated by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The number of adjusted gun sales totaled 1.06 million. This is the 71st month where the adjusted NICS numbers were over a million.
The NSSF calculates the adjusted NICS numbers by taking the total number of NICS checks for the month, as supplied by the FBI, then subtracting the number of NICS checks for firearm permits and firearm permit rechecks.
May, June, and July tend to be the lowest numbers for NICS checks of all the months. As June numbers are only 60 thousand above 1 million, it is uncertain if the number of sales for July of 2025 will be over a million. We will know in about a month.
Over the last 12 months, only three months have had greater numbers of firearm sales than the month from the previous year, although the overall drop in the other nine months is not large. The number of people with confidence in the Trump administration to look after the best interests of the United States is much improved compared to the Biden administration. The number of total NICS checks diminished by 2.5% from June of 2024, half as much as the adjusted number of firearm sales.
The firearms sales numbers are an estimate because one NICS check can be used to purchase more than one firearm, and about 1 million people have permits that can be used as a substitute for an NICS check, as obtaining the permit already requires an NICS check.