Pennsylvania's gun background check system sets record

Gun buyers in Pennsylvania between July and September gave the state’s background check system its busiest quarter in its 22-year history, already surpassing 2019’s total so far this year.

A record 406,151 background checks were completed between July 1 and Sept. 30, a 55% increase from the same time in 2019, according to state police. The previous highest total was 369,807 which was set in the first quarter of 2013.

The most recent figures pushed the total so far for 2020 to more than 1 million checks, blowing past the 982,042 that were completed in all of 2019.

“We began to see an increase of (background check) activity in the first quarter as Pennsylvania and the rest of the country began learning about the covid-19 pandemic, and that trend has continued,” said Capt. Mark Shaver, director of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Records and Information.

Another factor could be months of nationwide social unrest, racial tension and protests spurred by the May death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, according to an article by public policy organization Brookings Institute.

The highest volume day in Pennsylvania in the third quarter was July 23 when 7,120 background checks were completed, police said. The record is 9,178 for most checks in a day on Nov. 24, 2017.

A surge in gun sales started in mid-March as Pennsylvania’s coronavirus cases began to steadily increase. Anyone buying a gun from a dealer is subject to a background check through the Pennsylvania Instant Check System, which allows dealers and police to determine if a person is legally allowed to buy or carry a firearm. The same increase has been seen nationwide.

So far in 2020, there were 17,617 people, or 1.7%, denied a firearm purchase, including 4,866 in the first quarter, 5,801 in the second quarter and 6,950 most recently, according to state police statistics.

During the first nine months of 2019, 709,103 checks were conducted, including 266,442 in the first quarter, 217,444 in the second quarter and 225,214 in the third quarter.

There were 9,123 denials, or 1.3%, in that time period of 2019, including 3,260 in the first quarter, 3,085 in the second quarter and 2,802 most recently.