Since President Joe Biden took office, his administration, along with other Democratic lawmakers, have worked to chip away at the Second Amendment.
In one instance, California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to implement sweeping gun control measures that would impact all Americans. This would include restrictions on modern sporting rifles, such as AR-15s, AK-47s and M-16s, dubbed by pro-gun control liberals as "assault weapons."
However, new figures shared this week show that since Biden took office, the number of new gun owners equals the population of the Republican state of Florida.
According to The National Shooting Sports Foundation, this is 22.3 million people (via NSSF):
The reasons that led to such a dramatic surge in lawful gun ownership in America over the past three years are well known and understood. It began with COVID-era lockdowns and forced business shutdowns, followed by the “defund the police movement” and soft-on-crime prosecutors who took it easy on repeat violent criminals and an overwhelming feeling that police couldn’t be counted on when seconds and minutes mattered most and the civil unrest that gripped the nation during the summer of 2020.
NSSF noted that halfway through 2020, first-time gun owners accounted for approximately 40 percent of buyers, according to retailers. Typically, it is around 20 to 24 percent (via NSSF):
The 2024 figures aren’t finalized yet, but so far there have been just north of 6 million total FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verifications processed for the sale of a firearm. If the percentages hold to average, that could mean another million more first-time gun buyers for the year, so far.
In Washington, D.C., two African American mothers of young children shared that they became gun owners because criminals see women as “defenseless.”
“They target us, first because they think we don’t carry. We can defend ourselves as women, we are not as weak as you think we are,” one of the mothers, Kennette Brown, said.
Another mother, Nicole Washington added, “With all the things going on in the world, you just want to be able to protect yourself.”