Firearm-related background checks reached 3.9 million in June, the most since the tracking system was created over two decades ago, because "people are being hit with a hard dose of reality" amid calls to "defund" the police, gun-rights activist Colion Noir said Sunday.
Noir told "Fox & Friends Weekend" host Jedediah Bila that more Americans are beginning to think, "The only person responsible for their safety is them."
He continued, "Understanding that and seeing the limitations that the government can provide in terms of their safety, they realize, well, maybe that idea of a Second Amendment is starting to make a lot more sense now than maybe it did a couple months ago, or maybe a couple years ago."
GUN BACKGROUND CHECKS HIT RECORD HIGH IN JUNE
Gun sales were soaring back in March as governments across the United States started issuing stay-at-home orders and other unprecedented lockdown measures as the coronavirus took a grip across the country.
Interest in firearms ownership continued as the economy took a sharp decline and civil unrest erupted following the May 25 death of George Floyd, which sparked calls to defund police departments across the country.
"I find it kind of ironic," Noir said of the movement. "There are a lot of people prior to where we are right now... who were saying, 'you don’t need a firearm, you have police.' Fast forward to where we are now, and a lot of these same people are saying, 'we should defund the police.'"
Noir said that while such a move would be "ridiculous," the national attention it's garnered has left many people in fear for their safety.
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"I like to feel like I can call someone to protect me when I need it," he explained, "but now that we’re having people on the national stage talking about defunding the police, well, at that point the only thing left I can do is rely on myself to go and get a firearm to protect myself, because I’m not sure there’s going to be police on the other end of the line or to be able to arrive when I need them."
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.