ILLINOIS, USA — Illinoisans are adding something more than food and toilet paper to their COVID-19 prep list. FBI data shows that gun dealers in the state are seeing more interest from people who want to buy firearms.
That comes from the system that dealers use to check someone’s background before completing a sale. The data show that across the country there have been almost 40% more checks so far this year than by this point last year.
In more than half of US states, the number of firearm purchaser background checks this year is at least 50% higher than it was by July last year. Illinois ranks in the top four states with the biggest increase in these checks. The background check system did 88% more checks for Illinoisans so far this year.
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said he’s heard about the increase in firearm purchases from the Illinois State Police as well. He said they told him there have been 40,000 applications for new firearm owner identification (FOID) cards, with 7,000 applications in a single day. Illinois residents must possess a FOID issued by the state police in order to have a firearm.
The rise in purchases, he said, is driven by people who didn’t own a firearm before.
“Home defense has been the number one thing — pistols, shotguns,” said Pearson, adding that the purchases weren’t from particular manufacturers, “whatever they can get their hands on.”
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System saw record numbers of requests in March. Specifically, March 20 set a record as the most checks in a single day: 210,308 instant criminal background checks for firearm purchasers. March 17 and 18 also made the list of top ten days for most background check requests.
Pearson said the high interest in firearm purchases in March seemed to correspond to statewide stay-at-home orders. Illinois’s stay-at-home order was announced on March 20.
Since then, he notes, the biggest topic of discussion among firearm owners and purchasers is protest and civil unrest across the country.
“We saw riots in smaller towns like Bloomington, Illinois,” said Pearson, referring to damage and looting that occurred in the Bloomington-Normal area on June 1 that resulted in damage to businesses. But Pearson also noted that a lot of interest in new firearm purchases and permits came from Chicago and its suburbs.
As a result of the increased demand for permits and the limited staffing of government offices during the pandemic, said Pearson, processing times are delaying purchases. The ISRA is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed yesterday against the Illinois State Police, which claims that FOID application processing delays infringe on Illinoisans’ second amendment rights.
Pearson said that demand for firearms in Illinois is exceeding supply, meaning dealers can’t keep guns or ammunition in stock.
“They’re sold out by four or five in the afternoon,” he said.
He heard that potential buyers are increasingly driving to Indiana, where members say gun shows have resumed.
For people involved in shooting sports, they can still mostly get their time in at a range.
“Shooting clubs can safely social distance too, it shouldn’t be an impediment,” he said, “but since they can’t buy ammunition, they can’t get people out to shoot.”
And firearm training classes are still in session, even though a lot of in-person events are still delayed due to COVID-19 concerns. Pearson said firearm owner and hunter education classes in his area are filled.
“We have a class coming up in September and the limit was 60, and we’ve had to expand it to 90,” said Pearson. “Reports from indoor shooting ranges particularly around Chicago that teach classes are backed up” with people looking for handgun and shotgun beginner training.
Pearson recommended that new firearm owners “get into a class if they can, learn about the firearm that they have, learn the safety first,” he said. “You never stop learning.”
New firearm owners can get a free Project Childsafe safety kit from participating Illinois law enforcement agencies, listed on the Project Childsafe website.