The Federal Bureau of Investigations says there’s a surge in background checks
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads the crimes related to the pandemic are also at an all time high.
Theft incidents of surgical masks, clinics selling fake COVID-19 tests and even hate groups encouraging sick people to infect law enforcement are just some of the wild crimes being committed in just a short time.
For some reason a rise in the wackiest crimes and scams are at a rise right along with hate crimes.
Many have heard about the criminals peddling fake cures of the virus and con artists posing as public health officials. But no one seemed to expect the rise in number of gun sales as a result of the pandemic.
According to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, on March 16, the number of background checks as a result of new gun sales rose by 300% in comparison to the same date in 2019.
Federal background checks are performed by the FBI and are required when transactions occur through licensed gun dealers. This year the FBI is running double the number of background checks it performed in 2019.
What are all these gun happy people afraid of? Rumors of law enforcement agencies saying that they’ll turn a blind eye to most minor offenses during quarantine might have many people -- literally up in arms.
When you read and see the constant reports of COVID-19 related crime it may also be enough to keep people up at night.
A man in Missouri was caught coughing in a store and threatening to give the employees coronavirus. And people in Illinois were accused of similar crimes.
Rising gun store sales during times of crises is hardly a new occurrence but most will admit that this pandemic presents new extremes. Some gun dealers have stopped answering their phones entirely simply because they cannot serve the huge demand.
Time will tell if the rest of the country will follow suit, but it seems that gun control in the time of COVID-19 is not a popular topic.