Unlikely Source Comes to the Defense of Gun Owners After Russian Official Criticizes U.S. Over Gun Laws

A high-ranking elected official in Russia recently took a jab at America, implying U.S. gun laws had resulted in the deadly Navy Yard shooting last week.

"A new shootout at Navy headquarters in Washington — a lone gunman and seven corpses," tweeted Alexey Pushkov, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia's Parliament. "Nobody's even surprised anymore. A clear confirmation of American exceptionalism."

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/Alexey_Pushkov/statuses/379607712914751488"]

However, in a surprising defense of U.S. gun laws, National Public Radio (NPR) on Saturday noted in an article that "Russians have far fewer guns than Americans — and far more homicides."

"But while Pushkov sneers at U.S. gun laws, how do the stats look in Russia?" asked NPR:

There are fewer than 13 million firearms in circulation in Russia, compared with an estimated 300 million in the United States. That works out to about 9 guns per 100 people in Russia and closed to 100 guns per 100 people in America.

The most recent homicide statistics for Russia show that there were 21,603 killings in 2009.

According to the FBI, the United States had 13,636 homicides in 2009 with a population that is more than twice as large. More than 80 percent of those killings were gun-related.

NPR further highlighted that it is "illegal for Russian citizens to own automatic and semi-automatic guns" and "citizens are required to provide reasons such as hunting or shooting" to apply for a handgun or shotgun license.

Follow Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) on Twitter

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