New York gun sales increase dramatically, following nationwide trend

Gun sales in both New York State and the United States as a whole are on track to make 2021 the second-highest year ever for firearm purchases, according to a report published this week.

In New York, gun sales rose sharply in 2021, after steady rises in the previous years. Field and Stream reported this week that almost 500,000 firearms were sold in New York alone this year, which puts the state on track to set a record for second-highest gun sales in a year, surpassing pre-pandemic gun sales in 2019.

There has also been a trend of first-time gun-owners purchasing firearms in New York this year, along with gun retailers reporting a rise in first-time customers who were not white males.

Across the United States, 2021 saw similar trends in gun sales. Women nationwide are purchasing more guns, according to Field and Stream.

A recent FBI report showed one week in the spring of 2021 broke a new US record since gun sales were tracked in 1988, with 1.2 million new firearms being sold that week alone. Gun sales have continued to break records across the US as the pandemic rages on.

Echoing the results of the reports from across the United States, the NRA put out a statement in June this year, saying, “Since the surge in gun-buying began at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, those in the firearms industry …have made two important observations: (1) The increase in gun purchasing included many first-time gun buyers; (2) Those purchasing firearms did not conform to stereotypes about the “typical” American gun owner.”