Gun Sales Apparently Broke a Record on Black Friday

The FBI processed a record-breaking number of firearms background checks on Black Friday, the agency said Tuesday, indicating that gun sales soared on the busiest retail day of the year.

The law enforcement agency conducted 185,345 background checks on Black Friday, the Associated Press reports, which is about 5% more than the same day last year. On the same day, three people were killed and nine others were wounded in a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado. The FBI said it processed roughly two background checks per second on Black Friday.

The total surpasses the previous record, which was set Dec. 21, 2012, about a week after the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut, the AP reports. It’s unclear how many of the Black Friday background checks were approved.

[AP]