GREENVILLE, SC, USA & HALIFAX, NS, CANADA –-(Ammoland.com)- Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting (SAAF) estimates April 2018 firearms sales at 1,131,533 units, a year-over-year decline of 4.2% from April 2017.
This is the lowest firearms unit number for April since April 2015.
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 raw numbers (for April, some 2,186,119, the highest April numbers on record) cannot be taken at face-value as very large numbers of background checks are unrelated to end-user sales. For example, in April the state of Kentucky conducted about 390,000 so-called permit checks alone whereas end-user checks at firearms retailers likely amounted to under 20,000 checks.
SAAF Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer comments that “the sum total of likely firearms sales for the first four month of 2018 is slightly below sales for the same period last year suggesting continued softness in the U.S. firearms market.”
ABOUT Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting:
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 Analytics and Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting both are legally protected Service Marks of Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting. (Contact sales@SmallArmsAnalytics.com for sales and other information.) www.SmallArmsAnalytics.com