America, Continuing to Arm Itself

- FBI checks for all of 2012 totaled 19.6 million, an annual record and an increase of 19 percent over 2011.
- The numbers from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System does not show how many firearms buyers actually took home from federally licensed gun stores. Some purchasers may have bought more than one weapon.
- The figures do not represent the number of firearms sold, a statistic the government does not track. They also do not reflect activity between private parties, such as family members or collectors, because federal law requires background checks only for sales from commercial vendors with a federal license.
- The system does not account for all U.S. gun purchases, however. Many gun shows are not covered and private sales, such as one hunter selling a weapon to another, also are not subject to checks

Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-02/gun-sales-background-checks-hit-record
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/us/background-checks-guns/index.html
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/02/background-checks-guns_n_2398297.html