The National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that adjusted NICS firearm background checks, treated as a sales proxy, rose 7.9 percent in October from October 2025 to 1,402,422. Managing Director of Public Affairs Mark Oliva said the total shows lawful buyers investing in personal safety and the right to keep and bear arms, and that NSSF will keep working so Congress and state legislatures protect that purchase ability.

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Chairman Alan Gottlieb forecast a nationwide buying wave on the scale of 2020 plus new limits on law-abiding owners, especially in Democrat-run legislatures and Congress, including possible rules on modern semiautomatic rifles and pistols before a Supreme Court ruling on Second Amendment protection. Virginia checks climbed after Democrats won the governorship and both chambers in late 2025 ahead of a July 1 assault-firearms ban, while Pennsylvania ranked second in long-gun checks, third in handgun checks, and fourth overall last month.