The FBI reported a record-high number of background checks for firearms purchases in the December, the month of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct., Politico reports. A new report from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System says there were 2.8 million background checks on those seeking to purchase firearms last month. That total was 2 million the previous month, and 1.9 million in December of 2011, news accounts noted.

The Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newtown killed 20 children and six adults, and spurred some lawmakers, including the president, to call for a reassessment of the country’s gun policies. A White House task force is due to make a report on the issue by mid-January