After President Barack Obama called for new gun restrictions following the terrorist shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., in December, lawful firearms sales across the U.S. skyrocketed, with more firearms sold that month than in almost any other month in nearly 20 years, The New York Times reported after analyzing federal background check data.
While firearms sales doubled nationally between 2002 and 2013, this same dynamic—anti-gun legislation prompting Americans to increasingly acquire more firearms—also held true at the state level. After New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie proposed new gun controls in 2013, gun sales spiked there—just as they did in Maryland after Gov. Martin O’Malley signed one of the most onerous gun bans in the nation, and residents scrambled to buy guns before that law took effect.
In other words, these anti-gun politicians seem to be actually increasing the possession and prevalence of the very firearms they seek to demonize and deny.
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