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Differences between America & Australia, Posts, Soapbox

Difference between Americans and Australians: guns

Difference between Americans and Australians: guns

Another week, another shooting. But it’s not about the guns. Guns don’t kill people. No wait, the bullets do, no the people do. Wait, who kills people? The cars kill the people. No the drunk people driving the cars kill the people. Wait. The vacuum cleaner does the vacuuming, no the person does the vacuuming. I’m confused.

This is arguably the single most dividing issue between Australians and Americans. And it’s not all Americans and my guess is it’s probably not all Australians either.

After a shell-shock week, my daughter and I have been questioning whether or not it’s time to move back home.  And while my son isn’t as vocal as we are his Twitter and Facebook has had their fair share of “the gun debate” issues.  Mr H? He’s in London so all’s good in his world.

What Americans think about guns

We’ve heard sound grabs of the likes of Donald Trump who shoot their mouth off because they can–to get on TV screens, radios and column inches in the papers and on websites and that’s fine. We expect it. It’s not great but we can live with it.

But you don’t expect it from the media.  At least I didn’t.  You might have seen this clip doing the rounds during the week:

 

It got me—and many, many others—so incensed I thought we should call for the sacking of these ill-informed presenters.

And clearly I should have better researched my stance.  Because in doing more research for this piece I found another Fox News presenter ranting pro guns.  Apparently “they” say that Fox regularly preaches right-wing conservative views.  I found this review on Fox and Friends which made me chuckle.  No wonder I’ve never tuned into Fox News.

Even less surprising is that I haven’t heard anything from either Fox News or Fox & Friends in response to my suggestion–I guess any publicity is good publicity.  Hmmm…

Clearly, for a network like Fox to put these people up there to a national audience this is purportedly representative of America’s views on guns.

And to a large extent it is. Many Americans genuinely believe in their right to bear arms.  And believe stuff like this:

http://twitter.com/sonslibertytees/status/623553547603415041/photo/1

Back to the Fox and Friends story.  When it started appearing on Facebook I did a Twitter search for the show. I found another story on one of the presidential candidates Ben Carson discussing gun rights. Here’s some examples of the response on twitter:

And I had this fun Twitter exchange during the week:

Damn that I misspelt cowboy! That was the last I heard from Kimberly Huggard.

Then there was this:

Nice one Lori.  And there’s this:

Oh look… it’s in response to Fox News again. I’m finally seeing the pattern.

And while we’re on the subject of Fox News presenters here’s another one just for fun:

http://twitter.com/mmfa/status/649407149072781312/photo/1

Thankfully not all Americans share the same views.

OK, so while new host Trevor Noah isn’t American, his audience is laughing.  If you’re interested–cause there are funny grabs there–I’ve chopped the segment down and you can watch it by clicking on this link.

What Australia thinks about guns

Not just the Australia, the rest of the world. Piers Morgan has been very vocal on the issue. Unlike many of the arguments pro guns cheerleaders are outlining, some prominent (and other stupid) public figures, he’s done his research and uses logic and reasoning as the basis of his argument.

But this isn’t really about him is it? It’s about Australians and our general attitude to guns.

Australians haven’t grown up to believe we have a constitutional right to carry a gun so we’ve got a fundamentally different perspective on the matter.

We don’t believe that if we send our kids to College with guns they won’t get shot.  (We believe in sending our kids to Uni without guns and still not being shot).

I wish I was a cartoonist and I could draw a cartoon of a mad shooter coming in with his gun showing the entire class dressed as cowboys drawing their guns from their holsters like they’re Quick-Draw McGraw asking for a truce while they draw their guns so they can shoot him first.

They seriously think that if they don’t arm teachers and don’t abolish gun-free zones this leaves the students exposed and vulnerable.

And they seriously think that it’s better to have an all-out shoot-it-out.

Or, like poor old Kimberly Huggard on Twitter thinking there would only be two shots fired.  Two.  And that is assuming the shooter shot the first one and some hero with a gun in his pocket takes a clean shot and takes out the shooter. How romantic a notion Kimberly. Bravo.

No, in Australia we can’t bear to hear the arguments in favour of guns.  Completely intelligent people just need to say one thing in favour of guns like this…

… then he’s lost all credibility with us.  Really? …. Really?  Seriously?

But what is the difference between Americans and Australians when we’re talking about guns?

Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, also doing the rounds of Facebook & Twitter, best sums up Australia’s views on guns. He’s Australian and it’s stand-up so he swears like it’s 3am and he’s had 500 beers.

If the Americans can get over the swearing it’s educated, logical and bloody funny.

 

On a personal note, scrolling through comments and Twitter have left me feeling sick to the stomach. The indignation and righteousness of Tucker Carlson (never trust someone with two last names) makes me want to pack my bags and run back home.

I love lots of things about living in LA—and I’m thankful I’m not surrounded by ignoramuses suggesting we arm our kids and teachers with guns to protect themselves—but you only have to witness the hateful attacks on those trying to curb gun violence to wonder if they’ll ever stop and reflect.  And use logic.

I’m hoping this country will evolve and look past “my right” to carry a gun which is effectively saying I don’t give a shit about the repercussions to the society I live in, as long I can do what I want.

xx It Started in LA xx

 

October 8, 2015 by

My LA Life; Visiting LA or Moving to LA: It all started one day in August 2013 when we were thrust into Hollywood & Beverly Hills smack bang in the middle of lifestyles of the rich & famous. This is my new reality, with a twist of 90210 and a bit of Hollywood on the side.

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2 Comments

  • Reply My right to do what I want - It Started In LA October 23, 2015 at 12:43 pm

    […] Difference between Americans and Australians: guns […]

  • Reply Clinging to our motherland: US Gov and guns - It Started In LA October 5, 2017 at 12:25 pm

    […] in a gun debate. Especially in America.  I blogged about it early on when I was here for my first mass shooting. (Yep, like it’s an earthquake or hurricane, celebrity divorce or star […]

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