Gun industry thrives during Obama term

President Barack Obama has presided over a heyday for the gun industry despite predictions by the National Rifle Association (NRA) four years ago that he would be the "most anti-gun president in American history." Gun buyers fear that Obama wants to restrict their purchases, especially if he were re-elected.

The NRA, a gun advocacy group, is bursting with cash and political clout. And Washington has expressed little interest in passing new gun laws, despite renewed calls to do so after recent deadly shootings in the states of Colorado and Wisconsin.

Obama has made no promises to impose new gun control legislation and does not have the support in Congress or among voters even if he did. During this week's presidential debate, Obama suggested renewing a US ban on assault weapons and coming up with an overall strategy to reduce violence, but both Obama and Republican Mitt Romney said the government needs to enforce gun laws already on the books.

For the first time since 1993, the number of federally licensed retail gun dealers in the US increased slightly in 2010 and 2011, as the country added 1,167 more licensed retail gun dealers, according to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records. After the assault weapons ban in 1994, the number of gun dealerships dropped annually until 2010. As of October 2012, there were 50,812 retail gun dealers — 3,303 more than in 2009.

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