Second Amendment triumphs over useless material possessions
Shoppers participating in the post-Thanksgiving consumerist phenomenon known as Black Friday typically tend to purchase useless material possessions they don’t really need.
This past holiday, however, many Americans demonstrated that they’re more interested in their Second Amendment rights than flat screen TVs or cheap DVDs.
According to the FBI, last Friday saw a staggering 175,000 background checks processed via the agency’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, a number the agency says made Friday the second highest gun purchase day ever.
Black Friday gun sales this year were only exceeded by sales conducted on December 21, 2012, according to CNN, when President Obama threatened to use executive orders to restrict gun rights following the Sandy Hook school shooting.
“Traditionally, Black Friday is one of our busiest days for transaction volume,” said FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer, adding that the background check system was “averaging three checks per second.”
The FBI was reportedly so inundated by background check requests that they contracted out call center labor and had employees work extra shifts, some working 17-hour workdays.
“The challenge is to have staff keep up with this volume,” Fischer said. “We do that by limiting personal leave, asking employees to work extra shifts and reutilizing former … employees to serve in NICS during this busy period.”
The workload was apparently so taxing that the agency was unable to complete around 3,000 checks, reports Mediaite.
