Firearm Background Checks Initiated in Virginia in March

March 2026 parallels the surge of background checks seen in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the first slate of gun control measures under a Democratic trifecta. In 2022, a Republican governor took office.

There were 823,513 background checks initiated in Virginia in 2020, representing the highest total number this century. *Firearm background checks initiated through NICS do not represent the number of firearms sold. A one-to-one correlation cannot be made between background checks and firearm sales.*
Chart: Nathan Edwards, VCU Capital News ServiceSource: FBI / NICSGet the data Download imageCreated with Datawrapper