FBI: Firearm purchases shoot up in 2011

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Source: MSNBC

The FBI performed a record number of instant background checks on would-be firearm buyers in 2011 as Americans went on an apparent gun-buying spree, new government data show.

During the holiday season, business really picked up: FBI officials say gun dealers requested more than 1.5 million background checks in December and a third of those checks were requested in the last six days leading up to Christmas. <snip>

Texas, which ranks No. 2 in population according to the Census Bureau, was No. 2 in the background checks as well, with 1.15 million screening requests in 2011. Kentucky topped the list.

Nationwide, FBI officials said it fielded nearly 16.5 million queries from firearms sellers last year, checking that customers buying guns did not have criminal records or other red flags that made them ineligible to purchase weapons.


Read more: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/05/9983727-fbi-firearm-purchases-shoot-up-in-2011