Sales dropped again in 2019

Colorado gun sales dropped for the third consecutive year in 2019, while experts wonder whether the upcoming presidential election will cause sales to climb.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation conducted 335,370 background checks last year compared with 340,816 in 2018 — a 1.4% decrease, according to state data. The state does not track total number of firearms sold, so background checks are used as a proxy for total sales.

Last year marked the lowest number of gun sales in the state since 2014, and purchases have steadily dropped since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.

Research shows sales tend to increase under Democratic presidents and decrease during Republican regimes.

December served as the most popular month for sales with 37,195 applications, a trend that has remained constant throughout the years as holidays spur demand.

Of the 335,370 background checks conducted last year, nearly 98% were approved, CBI data show. The most common reasons for denial included a potential purchaser having a criminal record for assault and drug crimes.

While gun sales have dropped nearly 12% in Colorado since 2016, they remain 70% higher than they were in 2008, when 196,980 applied for background checks.

Sales spiked by 93% in the state during Barack Obama’s eight years in office, part of a massive gun ownership hike across the country.

“When Obama was elected, sure enough, gun sales went up,” said Eileen McCarron, president of Colorado Ceasefire Legislative Action. “But they didn’t just spike — they went up and stayed up.”

Looming gun legislation, at both the state and national level, can also affect sales. In Virginia, new gun control bills pushed by the Democratic majority resulted in a massive rush in December to buy firearms.

Colorado’s red-flag law, which allows authorities to take guns from people deemed to be at extreme risk of harming themselves or others, went into effect

Jan. 1 but so far has not appeared to drive more people to buy guns. Colorado’s January gun registration numbers will be released later this month.

Previous presidential election cycles have led to bumps in gun sales, so what will happen this year?

“It depends on who the Democratic nominee is,” said David Kopel, a constitutional law professor at the University of Denver. “If it’s Mike Bloomberg, everybody is going to buy every gun possible.”

If any Democrat wins the White House and the Senate also flips to Democratic control, McCarron said, “there will be a strong surge in purchases.”