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Ohioans have loaded up on a record number of guns in 2020, a year marred by the coronavirus pandemic and social unrest.
From January through October, the FBI conducted nearly 800,000 background checks for gun sales in the state, which is on pace to break the previous full-year record of 875,724 in 2016.
The number of FBI background requests, which provide the best estimate of gun sales, spiked first and highest in March, when COVID-19 prompted a statewide shutdown. The FBI received 114,086 background checks that month, more than double the previous month and the highest figure for a single month on record.
The monthly background checks dipped below 100,000 in April and May before surging close to 100,000 in June, when protests broke out nationwide over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The FBI publishes the full report each year with month-by-month breakdowns.
