Am I having a problem with static?

I am very new to turntables. When I play a record the sound becomes quiet "fuzzy" at times. Sometimes it starts out fine to my ears but after a few sides the fuzziness becomes apparent. On one occasion when I went to lift the lever up to move the tonearm I got a brief spark (which was visible). I do use an antistatic brush on both sides of the record before playing.

The system is a Clear Audio Champion TT, Graham Robin arm, and Benz Glider cartridge.

Do you think it is static or something else? Should I purchase an antistatic gun (like the one UHF mag advertizes).

Digital sources through the rest of the system sound fine.

Thanks in advance.