People ran to gun stores in record numbers as they sought self-defense weapons amid the coronavirus scare, driving sales up about 83% in March and leading to a record number of FBI instant background checks.

Industry officials said that handguns, rifles, AR-style weapons, and ammunition flew off the shelves when states and the federal government started to lock down communities. Many who purchased weapons said they were worried the lockdowns would create chaos or riots.

The FBI recorded 3,740,688 background checks in March, the most in any month ever — and by a mile. In February, another record-breaker, there were 2,802,467 checks.

This year alone, there have been 9,245,857 background checks, which are mostly for gun purchases. That figure is higher than the nation’s total gun background checks for every year from 1988-2005.

Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting, which compiles estimates for gun sales, estimates that a total of 2,583,328 guns were sold in March. That is an 83% increase over March 2019, it said in data shared with Secrets.

They estimate that handgun sales jumped 91%, to 1,534,000 weapons over March 2019. And rifles surged 73% to 835,663.

Anecdotal information from gun dealers indicated that most of those guns were AR- and AK-style rifles and shotguns.

Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the nation’s largest, told Secrets that there was a line out the door for a week. “Our daily business literally quadrupled, and we had three record days in a row. Self-defense guns, including AR-15s and shotguns, and ammo are the hot commodities,” he said.

And, he added, “Suffice to say, it’s been crazier than I have ever seen it in 13 years in this business!”

SAAF Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer said, “As anticipated by the general media and within-industry reports, firearms sales boomed in March 2020 largely due to the COVID-19 health crisis.”