Gun rights groups and retailers are projecting a surge in firearm sales after Democrats won control of both chambers of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in last week’s midterm elections.
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) Chairman Alan Gottlieb is warning that gun control groups are heralding the wins and will be seeking new gun control legislation and restrictions.
Gottlieb said the threat of new gun control legislation isn’t limited to Congress and that Democrats also are set to push restrictions in states like Pennsylvania and Arizona.
In an interview Thursday, Gottlieb told The States:
Arizona’s gone from a you know a great gun right state right now to a very anti-gun state overnight. Pennsylvania, you know, that now the trifecta on the government controlled by the Democrats in Pennsylvania, many of which are anti gun and are gonna push all kinds of gun control measures.
States that previously enjoyed Republican protection of gun rights now may be facing state-level measures such as permit-to-purchase requirements, extended waiting periods, enhanced background checks, and restrictions on concealed carry permits, according to the Center Square.
Gottlieb noted that when there are big swings in politics towards gun control advocates getting in power, there’s also big sales surges of firearms. “In the couple of weeks leading up to the election, people, knowing and thinking that, you know, things were gonna flip, gun sales had a big spike and we’re seeing that continuation spike yesterday, today, and I think we’re gonna see it for months to come now.”
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, October 2026 saw 1,402,422 adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks, marking a 7.9 percent increase compared to October 2025.
Federal Bureau of Investigations Firearm Background Checks statistics show more than 2.2 million NICS background checks across the country in October.
That’s up from 2 million in September, but the third highest month of 2026.
Gottlieb said one possible threat that gun owners could be facing from the newly-elected legislatures are what he characterized as workarounds:
I think on the anti-gun, the gun prohibition lobbies’ wish list, they start off of course with things like a permit to purchase so that you have to go through an extra hoop to be able to buy a firearm, extended waiting periods, extended background checks, different kinds of measures of where you where you can be able to take your firearm, more restrictions on concealed carry permits, be able to to get a permit to carry to for self-protection. Those are the things that they’re gonna start with pretty quickly, I think.
The new Congress will be seated Jan. 3, 2027.
Bryan Hyde, American Greatness
