Sales of handguns in the U.S. are experiencing a resurgence ahead of the elections, Reuters reports, due to concerns about expansion in gun control legislation should there be a sweep of the presidency, House and Senate by the Democratic Party. Panjiva’s analysis of FBI data shows that background checks climbed 46.1% year over year in Q3 and were 59.6% higher than the same point in 2016.

Chart shows U.S. filings for handgun purchase background checks. Calculations based on FBI data.   Source: Panjiva

At the same time there is an emerging shortage of ammunition availability in the U.S. because of a surge in demand, according to Forbes, after suppliers in Europe were affected by COVID-19 shutdowns. 

That’s cut imports of completed ammunition, though Panjiva’s data shows total ammunition imports including parts for self-loads and for assembly in the U.S. have been robust with a 107% year over year surge in imports from all destinations in August after a 78% increase in July that marked the highest value of imports since October 2016. 

The increase in August was led by a 10-fold increase in shipments from South Korea while shipments from Russia climbed 136%. Shipments from the EU have increased at a more modest rate of 23.6% including U.S. seaborne import shipments linked to Prvi Partizan, Fiocchi Munizioni and the local division of global leader Armscor.

Chart segments U.S. imports of ammunition by origin.   Source: Panjiva