Thursday, December 5, 2019

Good they use units

Until recently I was using numbers of NICS checks as a sign of how healthy gun sales were.

But that's no longer reliable.  For example, Chicago cops run a NICS checks when they want to harass someone legally carry CCW.  So Illinois has more NICS checks than Texas.  I bet they don't have more gun sales than Texas.

I am not the only one to notice, and when folks report on the health of the gun selling retail industry they now also talk about units shifted, along with NICS. So, good.

2 comments:

BC said...

About 16 of the states don't use NICS for background checks, they have their own in-state system they use instead.

MNW said...

Illinois is a bit if an outlier, but the NICS number is useful as does measure engagement, if imperfectly. For example if someone owed a gun for years and now gets a carry permit it shows increased interest. Think of it more as WHIP vs Ks