Gun shows are proliferating across America, brought back to life by unprecedented demand for firearms and ammunition after a wave of cancellations earlier in the coronavirus pandemic.

Since August, there have been more than 60 gun shows scheduled across the country every weekend, according to Gun Show Trader, an online listing. There are 315 scheduled altogether for the month of October, from Florida to California, from Alaska to Maine. But Jason Andrews, CEO of Gun Show Trader, said as many as 75% of gun shows were cancelled from February to August, as Covid-19 swept through the country, cratering the economy amid restrictions including bans on large gatherings in many states. This included a particularly bad spell from mid-March to May, when 95% of shows were cancelled. “There were a few months, where at most, there’d be one gun show a week if we were lucky,” said Andrews. While many of the cancellations were state-mandated, he said that some were voluntary. “Typically these tend to be smaller, annual shows that are put on by local gun clubs or other organizations,” he said. But in the past few months, many states have relaxed coronavirus restrictions, despite tens of thousands of new infections every day across the country. Andrews said the cancellation rate has dipped to about 25% amid strong demand for guns.

Gun sales surged to record heights this summer as Americans bought firearms for self-protection amid images of civil unrest, protests, rising crime and police brutality that dominated the media. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has conducted 28.82 million background checks through September of this year, setting an annual record with three months still to go in the year. In this same period, gross domestic product plunged, tens of millions of jobs were lost, and more than 210,000 Americans died from Covid-19.  [full article]