Black Friday booming day for gun sales

While many observers noted declining importance of Black Friday sales to overall Christmas sales, one area is holding strong.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 185,345 requests for firearm purchases Nov. 27, the highest number since the previous peak of 177,170 on Dec. 21, 2012.

Black Friday was the same day as the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs, but that's unlikely to have contributed to the number of gun sales.

Previous spikes in background checks, required before a firearm can be purchased, occurred after mass shootings such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

Since 1998, the FBI has processed requests for more than 220 million firearm purchases.

You can be denied a purchase based on a variety of factors such as criminal backgrounds, domestic violence convictions or restraining orders.

Gun sales, no doubt, were boosted by fears that sales would be further restricted, especially after President Obama called for action to reduce the "easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them."

Supporters of gun ownership point to the constitutional right to bear arms, that they deserve to possess or carry firearms to protect themselves, their families and people who would otherwise be victims of violence.

Others, like the president, feel that there are just too many firearms in circulation.

Somehow, both sides should be able to find common ground to keep them out of the wrong hands without further restricting the rights of responsible gun owners.