In the US, 90 Weapons for Every 100 People, but Obama and Romney Remain Quiet

President Obama and Mitt Romney, the Republican who wants his position, have remained quiet in regards to the most uncomfortable topic of their campaigns: gun control and the laws that restrict their ownership. It should not be expected that either of them will talk about the subject, even after last Friday’s massacre in Colorado, since it would be political suicide.

We are only a little more than three months away from the November elections and already both of them have angered supporters over that issue: Obama for not doing anything and Romney for having done, according to the [conservative] right, too much.

When he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney signed a state law, the first of its kind, restricting assault rifles, but now he wishes to separate himself from the topic in order to avoid angering his partisan extremists.

For his part, Obama, who during his 2008 campaign promised greater gun control, has said and done nothing as president. He remains silent even after the four major killings that have occurred during the three years he has occupied the White House, and now his spokesperson, Jay Carney, has stated that the president has no intention of speaking out or introducing new measures.

And the truth of the matter is that even if there are significantly more gun lovers among Republicans (72 percent of them do not want changes or restrictions on the constitutional right to own guns, whereas only 27 percent of Democrats think alike), it is the Independents that keep Obama and Romney from speaking out. It is the Independents who will end up deciding the election, and 55 percent of them do not want any change.

It is clear that the great majority of Americans are content with the current laws, so it does not matter that politicians like Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor, publicly insist that if Obama and Romney want to occupy the highest office in the country, the least they could do is explain their position.

Indeed, it was Bloomberg who was the first to demand changes after what happened in Colorado, where 12 people died and another 59 were wounded at the hands of a man who, without any obstacles, legally acquired the weapons he used and was able to buy 6,000 rounds of ammunition online — and with home delivery. But as The New York Times said, “Both men fear the power of gun ideologues … many voters have fallen under the spell of a gun lobby that considers any restriction an unthinkable assault on the Constitution.”

Obama reacted by asking for a minute of silence for the victims, but up to this point he has not spoken in favor of more strict gun control, disappointing many of his supporters who expected more from him. But the Democrats have learned that the topic of gun control has a devastating effect on any election. The last time there was a Democratic president — Bill Clinton — the Democrats controlled both Houses of Congress and insisted on the topic, suffering for it in the ballots. All thanks to the influence and power of the National Rifle Association.

Perhaps that is why the only time Obama spoke about the issue was in 2011 in a newspaper article. But even then he failed to mention how easily it is to obtain guns and how selling them does not involve a background check, nor did he talk about the restrictions placed on authorities when it comes to accessing information that would allow for tracking these weapons.

Much less did he support the proposal that asked almost 8,500 gun stores along the Mexican border to report when a single person bought more than one assault weapon.

In the United States there are 280 million weapons in the hands of individuals, more than anywhere else on earth. Per capita, this country possesses 90 firearms for every 100 residents. Further down the list is Yemen, which has 61 for each 100, according to the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies.

From 2011 to date, more than 250,000 people have died here [in the U.S.] because of a firearm, be it a murder, suicide, or an accident, which is an average of 34 people per day. Even so, there is no possibility that their sale will be restricted in a gun culture that never ceases to surprise the world.

Gun enthusiasts insist, via social networks, on discussing that more people die in car accidents and that does not result in the restriction of car sales. Obama and Romney act as if they share that opinion.