Colorado has surpassed its previous annual record for firearm background checks, with two months still to go before the year’s end.

In October, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation processed 40,200 background checks for firearm transactions, bringing the year-to-date total to 413,236. The previous record of nearly 397,000 occurred in 2013.

The pace of sales is not unique to Colorado. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has determined 2020 will set a national record as well, with 17.2 million background checks completed through October compared to 15.7 million in 2016, the next-highest year.

“Never before have so many Americans chosen to exercise their right to firearm ownership, including the estimated 6.9 million who purchased a firearm for the first time this year,” wrote Mark Oliva, the director of public affairs for the foundation.

Background checks are only a proxy for firearm purchases, as there is no national gun registry. A single background check may result in the purchase of multiple firearms in a transaction, and some checks might not end with a sale.

Experts have pointed to multiple unique factors that made 2020 such a banner year for gun sales, namely the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the widespread racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, and the property destruction and vandalism that occurred in some instances.

“Fear. It’s all about fear,” Dave Heath, an instructor at Colorado Gun Classes, told Colorado Politics in October. “Are the [Black Lives Matter protesters] going to come marching through my neighborhood? That’s their biggest fear right there.”

Forbes reported that gun purchases could spike again given the results of the election, in which President-elect Joe Biden’s platform included a reenactment of the assault weapons ban, a cap on monthly gun purchases and a buy-back program. Researchers Michael A. Jones and George W. Stone noted in a 2015 paper that the threat of gun safety policies is a key factor in sales.

“One can conclude that the U.S. firearm/ammunition consumer market is quite sensitive to threats of Government action to limit perceived Second Amendment rights, particularly from a Democratic Administration,” they wrote.