President Obama’s efforts to corral the sale of weapons in America have proven futile as the legal trafficking of guns in the country has increased dramatically for every year he has been in office.
According to statistics compiled the Department of Justice, using criminal background checks to accrue the information, guns sales have broken new records since Obama has occupied the White House, the FBI says.
This year along, the FBI says the purchase of firearms and other weapons is on pace to surpass the 15 million mark, which would be the most in history. Political and cultural pundits rationalize the trend this way:
- Nervous Americans are stockpiling their armory should the country descend into chaos.
- With grassroots insurgencies inciting revolutions that are toppling governments around the world, some believe that such a scenario is imminently headed for our shores in the near future. Therefore, they are buying weapons to protect their families and goods.
- With Obama enacting tougher gun laws, citizens are rushing out in unprecedented numbers to beat the implementation of the federal mandate.
Conspicuously absent from the pundits’ discussion? With historic disrespect and publicly proclaimed hatred spewed at Obama, you can help but factor in the racial connotations to explain some of these numbers.
“I think half of the people in the firearms industry, if asked, would hope [Obama] is not president, but then will secretly go out and vote for him again,” says Michael O. Fifer, CEO of gunmaker Sturm Ruger.
Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association [NRA] and pro-gun lobbyists have to be smiling at the meteoric upswing in guns sales. Besides, Since Obama was elected, Ruger’s stock price has risen 400 percent, making it a better investment than gold, analysts say.
