Report from NSSF
The June 2026 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System(NICS) figure of1,123,006is an increase of11.7percentcompared to the June 2025 NSSF-adjusted NICS figureof 1,004,986. For comparison, the unadjusted June 2026 FBI NICS figure of 1,886,539 reflects a 1.2 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 1,909,294 in June 2025.
- The June 2026 NFA figure of 166,677 is an increase of 177.1 percent compared to the June 2025 figure of 60,147.
- Top-5 States for Adjusted NICS Checks: TX, FL, VA, CA, PA
- Top-5 States for FBI NICS Handgun Checks: TX, FL, VA, PA, CA
- Top-5 States for FBI NICS Long Gun Checks: TX, VA, PA, CA, FL
“This is what freedom looks like,” said Mark Oliva, NSSF managing director of Public Affairs. “Our right to keep and bear arms begins at the gun counter and states like Virginia and Rhode Island chose to throttle the Second Amendment rights of their citizens by ending the legal sale of the most-popular selling centerfire rifle in America – the Modern Sporting Rifle – on July 1. Those citizens spoke with their wallets.
“While overall background checks nationally were 11.7 percent higher than June 2025, Virginia saw a 241 percent increase over the same month last year, with 123,699 background checks for the purchase of a firearm,” he added. “Likewise, Rhode Island had a 201 percent increase over June 2025 with 7,815 background checks completed. NSSF is encouraged that the U.S. Supreme Court is finally granting review to challenges against laws that restrict the sale of these commonly-possessed rifles and is confident that the day will come soon when these unconstitutional restrictions will be overturned.”
Please note: Twenty-eight states currently have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check for that transfer. The number of NICS checks in these states does not include these legal transfers based on qualifying permits and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.
The adjusted NICS data were derived by subtracting out NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks used by states for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. NSSF started subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.
Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide an additional picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms.
It should be noted that these statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS. They do not represent the number of firearms sold or sales dollars. Based on varying state laws, local market conditions and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.
