Record amount of background checks for guns on Black Friday

(FOX News) -- The FBI on Friday received 203,086 requests for instant gun background checks, which would mark almost a 10 percent increase from 2016 and sets a new record for the most ever in one day, USA Today reported.

Authorities did not speculate on why so many Americans are seeking guns this holiday season, but the theory is that there is a fear about tougher gun laws in the future.

The FBI received 185,713 requests on Black Friday last year.

USA Today pointed out that background checks do not indicate the number of guns actually sold because a buyer could purchase more than one gun in a check.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, earlier this week, ordered a far-ranging review of the FBI database used to check the backgrounds of prospective gun buyers, after the Air Force failed to report the criminal history of the gunman who slaughtered more than two dozen people at a Texas church.

The failure enabled him to buy weapons, purchases his domestic violence conviction should have barred.

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