U.S. gun sales surged past a notable threshold in August but still reflected the steady decline of past months.
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the industry trade association that tracks sales through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), 1,091,342 firearm transactions were conducted last month.
That brought the total back over the one million mark after July’s sales failed to reach that figure for the first month in six years.
Or 71 months, to be precise.
Demand continues to be soft despite the August bounce-back
In a statement, the NSSF noted the climb back over one million. “NSSF is encouraged to see the adjusted NICS background checks top one million in the month [of] August once again,” the organization’s Mark Oliva said. “We know there is a strong and continued interest in lawful firearm ownership, and these figures bear out the truth that Second Amendment rights are valued.”
The year-over-year figure, however, is down 9.9%.
Actual sales figures are higher than statistics indicate
It must be noted that the true level of gun sales is higher than adjusted NICS figures indicate. The Brady Law’s acceptance of a carry permit as an alternative to a background check when purchasing from an FFL means that numbers from 28 states with such an exemption are lower than the actual transactions.
Interestingly, a large segment of the decline is attributed to lower sales of AR-15s and similar semi-automatic rifles. There was an enormous surge in ownership of these popular sporting rifles during 2020 and 2021, but the market softened in 2025.
There is clearly a shift in gun policy coming out of Washington, meaning Second Amendment advocates may not feel the same urgency to purchase more weapons that they did under the previous administration.
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