Gun sales have doubled under President Obama while the gun murder rate has been cut in half since 1993, making America “a much safer place,” according to a new Economist analysis.
Relying on industry production numbers, background check information and other gun data, the influential news operation estimated that over 16 million new guns entered the U.S. marketplace in 2013, up from about 7 million when Obama was elected in 2008.
“Mr. Obama’s presidency has stirred up anxiety among gun owners,” said The Economist.
However, the graphic analysis is an uncomplimentary one to the gun industry. It decried gun deaths in the nation while suggesting that a British style anti-gun policy would be better.
Said the British-based publication, “With one of the highest murder rates among OECD countries — second only to Mexico — America retains its reputation as a disproportionately dangerous country. The number of violent assaults in America is comparable to those of other western countries, yet murders are much more common.
“The prevalence of guns goes a long way toward explaining America’s terrible record — they are used in two-thirds of all murders. Americans are five times as likely to be murdered as Brits but over 40 times as likely to be murdered with a gun.”
But, in the very next paragraph, The Economist said America is safer now as gun sales have exploded.
“America has become a much safer place over the past two decades however, but public sentiment has yet to catch on to the fact. In 1993, near the peak of America’s crime wave, seven out of every 100,000 people aged 12 and up were gunned down. That number has since halved,” it said.
It offset that by pointing to the surge in suicide gun deaths as a major problem.
After highlighting recent mass shootings, The Economist made the case for stronger gun control, though it noted lackluster public support in recent polling.
“Even given the link between guns and gun violence, which seems obvious to the rest of the world, America is unlikely to implement significant gun control in the near future,” lectured The Economist.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
