Spiking gun sales have caused a backlog in federal background checks designed to ensure guns don’t fall into the hands of criminals and people unfit to own weapons, Reuters reports.
More than 5% of 5.8 million background checks could not be completed within a three-day window, after which the gun dealer can sell the gun to a customer without a federal background check. This loophole allowed Charleston mass murderer Dylann Roof purchase a weapon even though he was barred from owning one due to a previous drug conviction.
That translates to more than a quarter million guns being sold without proper background checks.
Background checks nearly doubled from March through July 2020 from the previous year. Fears generated by shortages of food and supplies, created by the coronavirus pandemic, spurred gun sales.
Recently, conservative activists have pushed people to purchase guns and ammunition, claiming that a violent uprising will take place after the election, regardless of whether Trump wins or not. These activists claim that “antifa” will cause riots if Trump declares victory; they also claim that they’ll need to use violence to keep Trump in office if he loses the election because the election must have been rigged.