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Firearm background checks have risen throughout the state this year. (Star-Ledger file photo)

Gun background checks have jumped 41 percent over the past year in New Jersey, an indication that gun sales are rising again after falling for the last few years.

State residents who have firearms permits started the process of purchasing a gun more than 10,000 times in October 2016, up from roughly 7,000 times in October 2015, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Overall, gun checks in New Jersey have increased since 1998, when the FBI began running residents through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The number of background checks has increased from 39,000 in 2000 to 70,000 in 2015.

Gun checks had previously reached a peak in mid-2013, when legislators discussed increasing gun regulation after the Newtown, Conn. mass shooting. The recent rise came soon after the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015, which broke national records for most gun checks in a single day and week.

Then President Barack Obama announced his support for expanded background checks, followed by reports of increased permit applications and gun sales from police departments and firearm dealerships.

"It's true certain events can lead to an uptick in gun sales," said Eric Ruben, a jurisprudence fellow at the Brennen Center for Justice, part of New York University's School of Law.

He said the rise in background checks could be related to the amount of rhetoric in this election about what would happen to gun rights if either candidate wins.

"Gun rights advocates have been saying it will be a doomsday scenario for gun rights if Clinton is elected," he said.

Any purchase from a licensed firearm dealer must first be run through the FBI's system to check the criminal background of the customer. However, a background check does not always lead to a sale, and private gun sales have no such requirement, though they account for up to 40 percent of actual gun sales.

The data also doesn't reveal who is purchasing guns, and how many. Research has shown that 3 percent of Americans own half of all guns.

Erin Petenko may be reached at epetenko@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @EPetenko. Find NJ.com on Facebook.