My friend John Lott made the observation in a conversation following the President’s gun-control address involving Obama’s background check claim. From the President’s address:
But it’s hard to enforce that law when as many as 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check.
This is incredibly inaccurate. The President is using a survey of around 250 people taken during the Clinton years before the Brady Act kicked into effect. It’s a very misleading figure. Furthermore, the study shows about 3/4 of those surveyed received firearms either as inheritances or as gifts. In reality, that “40%” number is really in the low single digits.
