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After a strong Black Friday, gun sales were surprisingly lackluster in December despite the traditional role of the holidays as the time when many Americans give each other firearms.

While the government doesn’t keep an exact count of firearms sold, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System can be used as a reliable barometer. According to records kept by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2,586,138 firearm background checks were logged last month, down from 2,771,159 in the same month last year and 3,314,594 in 2015.

“December’s softness may be explained by a pull-forward of demand into November, especially given the booming Black Friday 2017,” according to a note sent by the equity research firm Cowen. Black Friday background check numbers were up to over 203,000 this year from 185,713 last year. That early holiday sales boost came during an otherwise slow year for firearms: after the 2016 election, the stocks of publicly traded gun companies sank and continued on a double digit decline through 2017.

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