Uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic and business shutdowns ordered to control it appear to be good for the gun business in Pennsylvania.

A surge in gun sales that started in mid-March as Pennsylvania’s coronavirus cases began to steadily increase caused a 14.4% year-to-year increase in the number of background checks performed in the first quarter of this year, according to state police.

“It was a very busy time as covid-19 awareness grew in middle-to-late March,” state police spokesman Ryan Tarkowski said.

The “level of uncertainty” the pandemic created translated to more gun sales and firearms permits in the region.

Those buying a gun from a dealer are subjected to a background check in the Pennsylvania Instant Check System, which is used by law enforcement and gun dealers to determine whether a person is legally allowed to buy or carry a gun.

There were 304,876 background checks performed in the first quarter of 2020, and 4,866 of those checks resulted in a denial to purchase, according to state police. During the same period in 2019, there were 266,442 checks and 3,260 denials, police said.

In 2019, about 1.2% of the people were denied because of a background check. That increased to about 1.6% in 2020.

Tarkowski attributed the 30% increase in the denial rate to the increased volume of checks performed.

People who have committed serious crimes, have a protection-from-abuse order against them or have an involuntary mental health commitment on their record aren’t allowed to buy guns in Pennsylvania, Tarkowski said.

The busiest day for background checks was March 20 when 8,346 were performed, followed by 7,700 checks on March 16 and 7,300 checks on March 17, Tarkowski said.

Those numbers are less than the 9,178 checks that were done on Nov. 24, 2017 — a Black Friday — that is the record for the PICS system that has been used in Pennsylvania since 1998, Tarkowski said.

On a normal day, about 1,300 background checks are done, he said.

The number of people who were caught providing false information on the forms they’re required to fill out when purchasing a gun more than doubled when comparing the first quarter of 2020 to 2019, state police said.

In the first quarter of 2020, there were 1,226 people who were referred to either state or local police departments or the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. During the same time period last year, 586 people were referred.

Tarkowski wouldn’t speculate why the number of referrals increased so much.

There also were 59 people arrested on warrants found during background checks in the first quarter of this year, compared to 42 people in the first quarter of 2019, according to state police.

Referrals are made when a person provides false information on the state or federal forms or provides a false identification, which is a felony.

The system handled the increase in background checks with little down time, Tarkowski said.

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