Black Friday gun deals: Background checks surge as shoppers buy in response to gun control proposals
WASHINGTON – The FBI is handling a surge in background checks this year after a series of mass shootings has renewed calls for more restrictive gun laws.
Some of the biggest spikes came in August and September after attacks in El Paso and Odessa, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 38 people dead.
Past spikes in background checks, a rough barometer of gun sales, have been driven by fears that lawmakers would tighten gun laws.
“People respond to what they perceive as threats to their (Second Amendment) rights, and...