First off, gun sales can be damn near instantaneously determined with data from the FBI NICS. There is no other source that quick. Polling gun dealers would take a while, but that is immaterial to this discussion. Second, does the CDC record each and every death in the US? No, but I found this:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/It is the National Center for Health Statistics. It is part of the CDC but only deals with statistics. The latest data I found was for 2017 which states there were 2,813,503 deaths in the US. They list the leading causes totaling 1,922,932. (This leaves 890,570 deaths unaccounted for in their data.) It states that the death rate that year is 863.8 per 100,000 (8.638 per 1000).
It has totals for the flu and pneumonia, heart disease, chronic lower respiratory diseases(lung disease), and couple others that could have been complicated by something such as the Covid, etc.
For how many died as a result of the Covid in any of the people with those conditions in this current "season", it will not be known until it gets tallied by the NCHS. It will be interesting to note how those deaths will be recorded - such as will the underlying condition be blamed or will it be blamed on the Covid. In 2017, the total deaths where a virus could have played a direct part - lung disease, flu and pneumonia - was 215,873. This equates to about 66 people per 100,000(.66 per 1000)
If there is a significant increase of that ratio in 2020, then it can be said that the Covid caused a significant increase in the number of deaths. However, if the number of those who die in 2020 of other relevant causes has dropped due to being attributed to the Covid instead, then there won't be a significant increase of the number of deaths and the Covid will not have caused an increase in the Crude Death Rate.
While no one is predicting an increase in the death rate in the US, I still hold to my conclusion that the Covid is not a significant cause for alarm other than for people who would be just as vulnerable for any flu virus making the rounds. I still hold the hype and panic is unfounded(my opinion) and is likely politically and financially motivated(my opinion).
In the end, if the data shows otherwise, I will be surprised.
Woody