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Graph via Statista.
THE ease at which you can purchase a firearm in the US is, sadly, a hot topic yet again.
After a gunman opened fire on revellers at the Pulse nightclub in Florida this week, people are calling for tighter gun control.
Yesterday US Senator Chris Murphy launched a filibuster to force a vote on gun control legislation.
Senator Murphy said he would remain on the Senate floor “until we get some signal, some sign that we can come togetherâ€, as he also evoked the Newtown school shooting in 2012.
He said he cannot look into the eyes of those children’s relatives and tell them Congress has done nothing since.
Senator Chris Murphy speaks during a press conference held by Democratic senators calling for action on gun violence.Source:AFP
The filibuster lasted more than 14 hours, at which point Republicans apparently agreed to hold votes on tighter gun control measures.
Just in case you were wanting a clearer picture of America’s love affair with guns, here’s a graph from online statistics portal Statista.
It shows that there are more gun dealers in the US than there are supermarkets, McDonald’s and Starbucks put together.
Graph via Statista.Source:Supplied
It shows that there’s a whopping 64,747 licensed gun dealerships in the US. This includes retail stores and pawn shops.
As The Independent observed, “there are more places to buy weapons to shoot people with than there are to feed yourself in two of the biggest chains in the worldâ€.
If you want another seriously sobering visual, there’s an interactive map at 1Point21 that gives a clear picture of just how easy it is to find a gun shop in the US.