SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Statistics show that the number of people who are trying to buy firearms has climbed dramatically this year.

The South Bend Tribune reports that FBI statistics show that retailers performed more than 730,000 background checks in the first four months of 2016. That’s more than double the 302,672 checks conducted during the same period last year. It puts Indiana on a pace to shatter last year’s record of more than 1 million background checks.

Nationally, the FBI found that the number of background checks so far this year is 34 percent higher than during the same period last year.

The paper reports that the increase may be due at least in part to fears of violent crime as well as heightened concern about gun control during an election year.