Firearm background checks were at an all time high on Black Friday this year, with the FBI processing 185,245 requests in a single day — roughly two per second. While retailers like Cabela's and Sportsman's Warehouse were advertising Black Friday deals, Friday was also the day that three people were killed and nine wounded in an attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.
FBI background checks, part of the 1998 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, are conducted for gun purchases from federally licensed dealers or to get a permit to carry guns; just because the FBI processed a background check does not mean a gun was necessarily purchased. Before this year's Black Friday record, the most background checks ever processed in a single day was on December 21, 2012, about a week after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Critics' choice: Three takes on tavern diningFeature A second Minetta Tavern, A 1946 dining experience, and a menu with a mission
-
Film reviews: Warfare and A Minecraft MovieFeature A combat film that puts us in the thick of it and five misfits fall into a cubic-world adventure
-
What to know before lending money to family or friendsthe explainer Ensure both your relationship and your finances remain intact
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglersspeed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers
-
Judge ends Eric Adams case, Trump leverageSpeed Read Federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams were dismissed, as requested by Trump's Justice Department
-
Texas arrests midwife on felony abortion chargesSpeed Read Maria Margarita Rojas and an employee at one of her clinics are the first to be criminally charged under Texas' near-total abortion ban
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squadspeed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
-
Mexico extradites 29 cartel figures amid US tariff threatSpeed Read The extradited suspects include Rafael Caro Quintero, long sought after killing a US narcotics agent
-
Leonard Peltier released from prisonSpeed Read The Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents had his life sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden
-
Ex-Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 yearsSpeed Read The former New Jersey senator was convicted on federal bribery and corruption charges last year
-
Police ID driver of exploded Cybertruck, can't see motiveSpeed Read An Army Green Beret detonated a homemade bomb in a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
