If FBI background checks are any gauge, Californians went on a holiday shopping spree in November, showing an intention to buy more guns than any other month this year and edging toward an annual record of more than 1 million purchases.

The highlight of last month was Black Friday. Gun sales (based on the checks) were up 59% compared to a year ago, according to Michelle Gregory at the California Department of Justice, far-outstripping the nation’s 20% increase during the same period. State gun purchases were up 49% overall for the month.

The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System conducted 981,798 reviews for gun-related purchases in California by December 1, about an 8% increase over 2011.   

Various explanations for the surge have been offered, including increased fear-mongering during the election season, financal uncertainty, a scaling back of the three-strikes law and the state’s recent shift of inmates from state prison to local jails under a realignment that goes easier on those who commit non-violent and non-serious crimes.

The state leads the nation with around 268,000 registered firearms, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), but not all legal weapons need to be registered and countless illegal weapons are floating around.

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Californians Buying Guns at Record Rate (by Claudia Koerner, Orange County Register)

Gun Sales Rise Sharply for Black Friday, Month of November (by Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee)

Black Friday Gun Sales Set Record (by Bill Brassard, National Shooting Sports Foundation)