--- title: Gun Background Checks in February Were the 3rd Highest Ever description: February was one of the biggest months on record for gun background checks, according to new FBI data canonical: https://time.com/4245107/historic-february-gun-background-checks/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-02T19:05:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:33:27.960Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Gun Background Checks in February Were the 3rd Highest Ever og:description: There were 2.6 million conducted in February og:url: https://time.com/4245107/historic-february-gun-background-checks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1db535bc7bce522d/69887ff8428a9e50becd1a04/background-checks-guns.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Gun show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gun Background Checks in February Were the 3rd Highest Ever twitter:description: There were 2.6 million conducted in February twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1db535bc7bce522d/69887ff8428a9e50becd1a04/background-checks-guns.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gun Background Checks in February Were the 3rd Highest Ever  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 2, 2016 7:05 PM CUT  Jim Jones does some pricing calculations while a customer fills out their background check materials before purchasing a handgun at the gun show at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine on Jan. 16. Jim Jones does some pricing calculations while a customer fills out their background check materials before purchasing a handgun at the gun show at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine on Jan. 16.Whitney Hayward—Portland Press Herald/ Getty Images)  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 2, 2016 7:05 PM CUT February was one of the biggest months on record for [gun background checks](https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/reports/nics%5Ffirearm%5Fchecks%5F-%5Fmonth%5Fyear.pdf "undefined"), according to new FBI data. The number of background checks conducted by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System on people trying to purchase a firearm hit 2.6 million in February, down from a high of 3.3 million in December 2015, according to the FBI. February’s background check total was the third largest in history, also falling short of the 2.7 million conducted in December 2012 after the deadly [mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School](http://time.com/4147684/newtown-sandy-hook-anniversary/ "undefined"). The FBI noted that the number of background checks does not directly correlate to the number of firearm sales. The large number of background checks comes after a year of several [high-profile mass shootings](http://time.com/4133808/san-bernardino-shooting-mass-shootings/ "undefined"). Gun sales in America have[ historically spiked](http://time.com/4138559/gun-sales-san-bernardino-mass-shooting/ "undefined") after a mass shooting, and there was a record number of firearm background checks conducted in 2015. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4245107/historic-february-gun-background-checks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4245107/historic-february-gun-background-checks/"},"headline":"Gun Background Checks in February Were the 3rd Highest Ever","datePublished":"2016-03-02T19:05:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:33:27.960Z","description":"There were 2.6 million conducted in February","url":"https://time.com/4245107/historic-february-gun-background-checks/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1db535bc7bce522d/69887ff8428a9e50becd1a04/background-checks-guns.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1db535bc7bce522d/69887ff8428a9e50becd1a04/background-checks-guns.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gun show","caption":"Gun show","creditText":"Whitney Hayward—Portland Press Herald/ Getty Images)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4245107/historic-february-gun-background-checks/","name":"Gun Background Checks in February Were the 3rd Highest Ever"}}]}] ```