Here’s How Many Guns Were Sold in South Carolina Last Month
A shooting at Michigan State University in February left three students dead and five injured. The incident, one of the nation’s seemingly endless stream of large-scale gun violence, prompted Michigan State Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks to indicate that the state legislature would be taking action soon to initiate stricter gun control. Among the policies Brinks suggested is more stringent background checks. (These are the states with the loosest gun laws.)
In January, about 2.6 million firearm background checks were initiated in the United States, according to data compiled by the FBI, a slight increase from January 2022, when 2.5 million checks were conducted. Background checks are often used as a proxy for measuring gun sales in the U.S.
The FBI conducted an estimated 28,831 background checks related to firearm sales in South Carolina in January 2023, up 4.1% from the same period in 2022.
Adjusting for population, this comes out to about 5.5 background checks for every 1,000 people, the 25th fewest among states. The largest share of background checks in the state were for sales of handguns.
It is important to note that there are a number of reasons background checks are initiated that are clearly not tied to the sale of a gun, such as pawn shop transactions and rentals. These and other background check classifications unrelated to firearm sales were excluded from analysis. A full explanation of our methodology is available here.
RankStateBackground checks for gun sales; Jan. 2023 (per 1k people)Total firearm sale background checks; Jan. 20231-yr. change in background checks (%)Most common type of check1Oregon13.155,58188.7Handguns2Alabama9.749,349-17.1Handguns3Tennessee9.466,1707.3Handguns4Wisconsin8.650,9570.8Handguns5Idaho8.616,7528.4Handguns6West Virginia7.914,09218.8Long guns7Pennsylvania7.8100,7699.0Handguns8Montana7.58,4501.3Handguns9New Hampshire7.310,2549.3Handguns10Washington7.155,5867.9Handguns11Wyoming7.14,109-9.8Handguns12Illinois7.088,50119.4Handguns13Colorado7.040,7660.6Handguns14Alaska6.74,9493.5Handguns15Maryland6.539,819133.6Handguns16Mississippi6.418,9478.6Handguns17North Dakota6.45,0131.6Long guns18Oklahoma6.325,4382.7Handguns19Missouri6.338,8085.6Handguns20South Dakota6.25,680-9.6Long guns21Utah6.220,7997.2Handguns22New Mexico6.112,8499.1Handguns23Michigan5.958,8396.0Handguns24Indiana5.738,8301.5Handguns25Maine5.67,8079.5Handguns26South Carolina5.528,8314.1Handguns27Connecticut5.419,5269.4Handguns28Minnesota5.330,507-8.8Handguns29Virginia5.245,3919.1Handguns30Arkansas5.115,6232.8Handguns31Arizona5.137,66614.9Handguns32Vermont5.03,2442.4Handguns33Kansas4.914,5374.6Handguns34Florida4.9109,3231.9Handguns35Louisiana4.822,056-15.0Handguns36North Carolina4.850,8766.8Long guns37Kentucky4.620,8358.2Handguns38Georgia4.245,787-0.2Handguns39Ohio4.147,866-2.3Handguns40Texas4.0121,5942.0Handguns41Delaware3.94,006-10.1Handguns42Iowa3.912,35816.6Long guns43Nebraska3.16,1766.7Long guns44Nevada3.19,771-26.7Handguns45Massachusetts3.020,95421.4Handguns46California2.495,0503.6Handguns47Rhode Island1.92,059-3.0Handguns48New Jersey1.816,74528.2Handguns49New York1.427,6620.5Long guns50Hawaii1.31,84736.6N/A
