“A record 3.9m firearm background checks were conducted in June, according to new FBI figures that underscore the sharp rise in US gun sales since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd,” the Financial Times reports.

“The FBI conducted nearly 3 million background checks associated with the sale, transfer or permitting of firearms in April, making it the fourth highest month for background checks since the bureau began keeping statistics in 1998,” CNN reports.

“Figures from April were down from the record-shattering spike of 3.7 million FBI background checks in March 2020, but still higher than checks done in the first two months of the year.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday that the government would immediately ban the use and trade of roughly 1,500 different kinds of assault-style weapons, including the AR-15 variant that has been used in many U.S. mass shootings, the Globe and Mail reports

The move comes in response to a murder rampage in Nova Scotia that left 22 people dead.

“The Supreme Court sidestepped a major decision on gun rights Monday in a dispute over New York City’s former ban on transporting guns,” the AP reports.

“The anti-climactic end to the Supreme Court case is a disappointment to gun rights advocates and relief to gun control groups who thought a conservative Supreme Court majority fortified by two appointees of President Trump, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, might use the case to expand on landmark decisions from a decade ago that established a right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.”

CNBC: “The case was the first Second Amendment case to reach the top court in nearly a decade.”

The National Rifle Association’s legal troubles have cost the powerful gun rights group $100 million, according to a recording of the group’s board meeting obtained by NPR.

“The National Rifle Association has laid off more than 60 employees in recent weeks,” Politico reports.

“The move comes as the gun rights group faces acute financial challenges during the economic crunch caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The association recently took a large financial hit when the pandemic forced the NRA to cancel its massive annual meeting.”

Around two million guns were bought in the U.S. last month, the New York Times reports.

“The surge in gun sales as coronavirus spreads across the country is second highest on record, after January 2013, the month when President Obama began his second term in office and the Sandy Hook School shooting raised calls for increased gun legislation.”

“The FBI processed a record 3.7 million gun background checks in March — more than any month previously reported, according to the agency’s latest data,” Axios reports.

“The spike’s timing suggests it may be driven at least in part by the coronavirus.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) declared in a statement that gun stores should be classified as essential businesses, allowing them to remain open amid shutdowns imposed on local businesses to stem the spread of coronavirus. 

“The National Rifle Association is cutting salaries by 20% across the board and laying off an unspecified number of employees amid a plunge in fundraising during the coronavirus crisis,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s (D) push to ban the sale of assault weapons has failed after members of his own party balked at the proposal, the AP reports.

“Four moderate Democrats joined Republicans in Monday’s committee vote, rejecting legislation that would have prohibited the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms, including popular AR-15 style rifles, and banned the possession of magazines that hold more than 12 rounds.”

Associated Press: “Gun-rights activists and other groups began to descend on Virginia’s capital city Monday to protest Democrats’ plans to pass gun-control legislation.”

“Gov. Ralph Northam declared a temporary state of emergency days ahead of the rally, banning all weapons including guns from the event on Capitol Square. The expected arrival of thousands of gun-rights activists — along with members of militia groups and white supremacists — raised fears the state could again see the type of violence that exploded in Charlottesville in 2017.”

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a live blog on the event.

NBC News: “The court has steadfastly declined to take up any gun rights cases since ruling in 2008’s Washington, D.C. v. Heller that the Second Amendment provides a right to keep a handgun at home for self-defense, and later clarifying in 2010’s McDonald v. Chicago that the right applies nationwide.”

“Now the court’s willingness to take the New York case — even though the law at issue was recently repealed — has gun rights supporters feeling optimistic that it could lead to a ruling about the right to bear arms outside the home. Gun control advocates, in contrast, fear the court’s new conservative majority may produce a decision that the National Rifle Association could use to fight against many of the 300 local gun restrictions enacted since the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012.”