Sales of handguns in California are at an all-time high through the pandemic. Around 920-thousand guns were purchased between March 2020 and April 2021. According to The Trace, a website dedicated to reporting on gun violence, the state has seen a 66-percent increase in handgun sales. First-time gun owners accounted for nearly a-fourth of the sales. However, as COVID restrictions have eased and vaccination rates increased in the state, gun sales have started to decline.