Gun Stocks Rise on Record March FBI Background Checks

(Bloomberg) -- Gunmakers Sturm Ruger and Smith & Wesson rose Thursday after the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) showed U.S. unadjusted criminal background checks rose 25% to a record in March from a year ago.

Unadjusted checks climbed to 4.69 million from 3.74 million in March 2020, and gained 36% from 3.44 million in February. Six days in March made the list of the top 10 highest days for background checks since 1998. The week of March 15, 2021 to March 21, 2021 was the top background check week on record, while March 22, 2021 to March 28, 2021 was the fourth best week.

Sturm Ruger climbed as much as 2.8%, while Smith & Wesson added 3.8%.

While gun sales aren’t tracked in the U.S., NICS data is considered a proxy for sales by the firearms industry. A background check doesn’t mean a gun sale occurred.

(Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, founded and helps fund Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for universal background checks and other gun violence prevention measures.)

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