Ahab reports that background checks increased 5.3% in January. This happened before, in 1993.
US Firearms Production, 1985-2004 (PDF source). Note the bolded years:
Year
Handguns
Rifles
Shotguns
Total
1985
1,550,071
1,140,669
769,505
3,460,245
1986
1,427,627
970,541
641,482
3,039,650
1987
1,658,832
1,006,100
857,949
3,522,881
1988
1,745,722
1,144,707
928,070
3,818,499
1989
2,031,425
1,407,317
935,541
4,374,283
1990
1,838,895
1,156,213
848,948
3,844,056
1991
1,838,266
883,482
828,426
3,550,174
1992
1,525,218
676,808
805,761
3,007,787
1993
2,655,478
1,171,872
1,148,939
4,976,289
1994
2,581,961
1,324,240
1,254,926
5,161,127
1995
1,722,930
1,440,699
1,176,958
4,340,587
1996
1,484,477
1,424,319
926,732
3,835,528
1997
1,406,505
1,281,162
918,759
3,606,426
1998
1,284,755
1,345,899
1,036,520
3,667,174
1999
1,331,230
1,569,685
1,106,995
4,007,910
2000
1,281,861
1,583,042
898,442
3,763,345
2001
943,213
1,284,554
679,813
2,907,580
2002
1,088,584
1,515,286
741,325
3,345,195
2003
1,121,024
1,430,324
726,078
3,277,426
2004
1,022,610
1,325,138
731,769
3,079,517
Here’s a line chart of the above data, excluding totals, to emphasize the spike in sales:
So why the spike in sales in 1993? What happened in 1993?
The Brady Bill.
So here’s a cold, hard […]