NICS Sales up, Checks
Down for September of 2025

Click to view larger image

In September of 2025, the number of firearm sales, as measured by the National Instant background Check System (NICS), adjusted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) was about two percent higher than it was in September of 2024. This reversed the slightly downward trend in firearm sales started in February of 2025. The reductions have not been enormous, about 2-7 percent for each individual month. Those reductions have been keenly felt in an industry accustomed to significant expansion during the Obama and Biden administrations.

While the numbers used to approximate firearm sales were up about two percent, the number of overall NICS checks was down about ten percent from September of 2024, according to NSSF. From NSSF :

The September 2025 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,179,424 is an increase of 2.0 percent compared to the September 2024 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,156,223.

For comparison, the unadjusted September 2025 FBI NICS figure of 1,858,763 reflects a 10.3% percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,072,550 in September 2024. …