Wednesday’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida claimed at least 17 lives; an unknown number of students were wounded. It’s the kind of horrific mass violence that raises questions about why the United States, which has by far the highest rate of gun violence in the developed world, makes it so easy to acquire guns.
Australian comedian perfectly sums up why other countries think US gun laws are crazy
Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he covers ideology and challenges to democracy, both at home and abroad. His book on democracy, The Reactionary Spirit, was published 0n July 16. You can purchase it here.
This baffles people from other countries — for reasons that Australian comedian Jim Jefferies explains in a bit from his 2014 Netflix special, (which we’ve discussed before). Jefferies was actually attacked in his home and tied up while captors threatened to rape his girlfriend. But instead of making him pro-gun, it taught Jefferies that a gun would never have protected him — “I was naked at the time. I wasn’t wearing my holster.”
Instead, Jefferies says, he decided that America’s approach to gun violence is totally bonkers:
In Australia, we had the biggest massacre on earth, and the Australian government went: “That’s it! NO MORE GUNS.” And we all went, “Yeah, all right then, that seems fair enough, really.”
Now in America, you had the Sandy Hook massacre, where little tiny children died. And your government went, “Maybe … we’ll get rid of the big guns?” And 50 percent of you went, “FUCK YOU, DON’T TAKE MY GUNS.”
He hammers home the idea that Americans keep guns just because they enjoy them, not because they seriously think they can protect themselves:
You have guns because you like guns! That’s why you go to gun conventions; that’s why you read gun magazines! None of you give a shit about home security. None of you go to home security conventions. None of you read Padlock Monthly. None of you have a Facebook picture of you behind a secure door.
And Jefferies also notes that the underlying mentality behind American gun culture, that people are always out to get you, is utterly bizarre:
By the way. Most people who are breaking into your house just want your fucking TV! You think that people are coming to murder your family? How many fucking enemies do you have?
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