If there’s one constant in American politics, it is the strength of gun owners. Their rock-solid commitment to the right to bear arms is something that keeps Gun Control Inc. up at night.

According to a report by the firearms industry group National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), background checks related to firearms sales increased year over year for the third consecutive month.

This September, for example, there were 1,156,223 background checks connected to sales, a 1.3% increase since September 2023. Similarly, August and July experienced steady increases in sales checks.

In total, the NSSF reported that there were north of 3.4 million background checks related to gun sales in the third quarter, which represents a 4.5% increase in the same timeframe in 2023.

The threats the Harris-Walz ticket has made of banning firearms such as the AR-15 and implementing universal background checks and red flag gun confiscation orders have clearly spooked gun owners. Generally speaking, when there are threats of gun control being passed, Americans flock to gun stores. Additionally, the unprecedented unrest of 2020 — marked by the COVID-19 lockdowns and the BLM riots — prompted many Americans to become first-time gun buyers.

Despite all of the media propaganda and anti-gun tropes that permeate across popular culture, Americans maintain residual pro-Second Amendment inclinations. These inclinations have only been reinforced by the most recent Vice Presidential Debate on October 1, 2024, where Tim Walz and his Republican rival JD Vance squared off. Gun policy came up in this debate, where Walz boasted about his anti-gun track record as governor of Minnesota  (2019-present). Walz signed legislation that imposed universal background checks and Red Flag gun confiscation orders on Minnesota gun owners.

Commenting about the recent VP debate, NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva said the following:

“The vice presidential debate offered a substantive examination of why Americans – by the millions each month – continue to lawfully purchase firearms. The fact is, Americans face a stark difference in the two tickets when it comes to respecting their Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms.”

NSSF has also observed that September was the 62nd straight month where Americans bought over a million firearms based on their analysis of background checks.

Law-abiding Americans aren’t giving up their firearms anytime soon. With how unstable politics has become and the growing degradation of public services such as law enforcement, Americans are turning to the most reliable means of protecting themselves and their property—private gun ownership. Armed, law-abiding individuals are the best first responders against criminal actors.

Republicans would be wise to not let up in their advocacy for the Second Amendment. In many of the swing states that Donald Trump needs to win in November — Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — there are still large numbers of gun owners who are political independents. These voters can be brought to the Republican fold by painting the Harris-Walz ticket as anti-gun radicals. Shying away from the gun issue could prove fatal for Republicans in this election cycle.