Gun sales in swing states show support for Trump position
Fox News:
It could be a leading indicator of which way the voting trend is going. If it is, Trump appears to be the beneficiary.
...There is more.
While the issue of the Second Amendment hasn't necessarily been at the forefront of this campaign cycle, the notion of gun rights has been a significant flashpoint throughout the turmoil and uncertainty of this year – induced by the ongoing global pandemic and national shutdown and further enhanced by the rioting and unrest that has permeated much of the country in recent months.
According to FBI data, the bureau processed 93% more background checks nationwide from March through July this year as compared with the same period the previous year. And while the classification of a "swing state" varies and is debatable, the Cook Political Report – as cited last month by the U.S. State Department –"sees Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as toss-ups," potentially along with New Hampshire and North Carolina.
Republican incumbent Donald Trump and his Democrat rival Joe Biden differ when it comes to their rhetoric surrounding gun rights.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to "always uphold the right to self-defense, always uphold the Second Amendment." Meanwhile, both Biden and his VP pick Kamala Harris have vowed to introduce restrictions surrounding firearms ownership, ranging from mandated "smart guns" and a buyback initiative to restricting the number of firearms an individual may purchase per month to one and prohibiting the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
So putting those two key factors together, where do the swing states stand when it comes to the purchasing of firearms? Like much of the U.S. this year, sales in those places have soared, as evidenced by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check statistics, which shows a prominent increase between January and August, in comparison to the same eight-month period a year ago.
In total, gun sales growth in those seven swing states shows a 77.9% uptick in 2019.
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It could be a leading indicator of which way the voting trend is going. If it is, Trump appears to be the beneficiary.
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