"Black Friday" gun sales, long one of the high points in the year, were brisk, with over a half-million served nationwide over the holiday weekend.  

The firearms industry trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, released on Monday that the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System completed 613,380 background checks for firearms last week, including 169,906 checks on Black Friday alone. 

The trade group pointed out that firearm sales typically rise during the final months of the year coinciding with hunting seasons and holiday sales, and while not as high as seen in recent years, still sent a strong signal. 

"While the overall trends are still coming off the peaks experienced in recent years, firearm sales remain consistently strong, with over a million per month for more than five years running," said Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO, in an email to Guns.com. "These figures tell us that there is a continued strong appetite for lawful firearm ownership by law-abiding Americans and that firearm manufacturers across the country continue to deliver the quality firearms our customers have come to expect."

Banner image: Magnum Research Desert Eagle, a perfect stocking-stuffer – provided one has a big stocking. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)