With plenty of talk of confiscations and outlawing America’s most popular firearm — as night follows day — gun buyers are reaching into their wallets and…buying more guns. The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s just-released NICS data — a good barometer of firearm sales numbers — showed a sharp increase form July and year earlier numbers.

Democratic candidates are one-upping one another with gun-control proposals, with Texan Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Kamala Harris both suggesting “mandatory buy-backs” of “weapons of war.” So what will, and should, actually be done? https://t.co/4QyJUmTjJ7 — reason (@reason) September 3, 2019

As the NSSF’s data show, August gun sales always begin to rise in August (July is the lowest NICS total month) most likely because we’re beginning to near fall and hunting season. But 2019’s August NICS check numbers took a sharp 15.2% jump over the year-earlier total.

The August 2019 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,113,535 is an increase of 15.2 percent compared to the August 2018 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 966,809. For comparison, the unadjusted August 2019 FBI NICS figure 2,341,363 reflects a 15.5 percent increase from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,026,309 in August 2018.

Joe Biden said there was no room for compromise with congressional Republicans on gun control, while Elizabeth Warren sounded more open to it and wanted a broad solution to gun violence https://t.co/JpIJkMgf2M — The New York Times (@nytimes) September 3, 2019

As the presidential campaign continues to heat up and federal and state efforts to enact a raft of new gun control legislation — new “assault weapons” ban, “high capacity” magazine ban, “universal” background checks and red flag laws — advance, more gun owners may be deciding now’s the time to fill the safe.