Apathy and gun row hit numbers at inauguration

US president Barack Obama was officially sworn in yesterday ahead of today’s ceremonial inauguration, an event which is expected to attract well short of the 2m citizens who attended the groundbreaking occasion four years ago.

Second-term apathy, combined with a period of gloom and division, will hit numbers as the debate over gun control and the national debt drives more of the public away than usual.

This will be the 57th presidential inauguration and Obama is the 17th president to go through the process for a second time.