August NICS Cleared 1.1 Million. NFA Checks Tripled.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s August 2026 adjusted NICS figure is 1,115,410, up 2.2 percent from 1,091,342 in August 2025. The unadjusted FBI NICS total is 1,917,379, up 10.0 percent from 1,743,509. NSSF subtracts purpose-code permit checks and permit rechecks so the adjusted number tracks firearm transfer checks more closely than the raw FBI dump.

New for 2026, NSSF is publishing monthly NFA checks (Form 1 and Form 4). August’s NFA figure is 185,744, up 201.6 percent from 61,594 in August 2025. Top five states for those NFA checks: Texas 28,030; Florida 12,808; Georgia 8,512; North Carolina 8,269; Pennsylvania 5,463. Top five states for adjusted NICS: Texas, Colorado, Florida, California, Pennsylvania.

NSSF is explicit: these statistics are initiated background checks, not guns sold and not dollars. Twenty-eight states have at least one Brady-qualified alternative permit, so legal transfers in those states do not always generate a separate NICS check. The Foundation does not adjust for those permit-based transfers.

A 2.2 percent bump in adjusted firearm checks is a market. A 201.6 percent jump in NFA checks is the tax stamp hitting zero and the Form 4 pipeline catching fire. NSSF is not claiming every NFA check is a suppressor. Form 1 and Form 4 cover the NFA catalog. The year-over-year multiple is still the industry signal: Americans are running NFA paperwork at three times last August’s pace.