Australian Negs On US Gun Nuts - And nails their asses.

Image - The Stranger Blog

Megan Carver

Yesterday at 8:19am · 

Copied this from an Australian friend:

"Oh, my American friends. 

Facebook is once again aflurry with memes and graphics comparing gun homicide statistics between America and the rest of the first world, as though the only difference between us is how many guns are in circulation, and it's very satisfying, but it's kinda bullshit. And the John Oliver Daily Show piece is popping up again, about how Australians gave up their guns after the Port Arthur massacre, but that's kinda bullshit too. Because even before Port Arthur, Australia was not like the USA.

You, America, have a large portion of your population who live with the real, honest, deep-seated paranoia that armed psychopaths are sitting outside their homes, waiting to break in during the night and murder them. They think this is so likely that it is a logical and obvious responsibility to be prepared to defend themselves with deadly force.

They think murderous invasion of their home is significantly more likely than the possibility that they or someone in their family may suffer from mental illness at some point in the future. They think it's significantly more likely than the possibility that some average, human slip-up may lead to a fatal accident. The threat of home invasion is so real to them that their self-defence is more important than the likelihood that their friends, or neighbours, or perfectly nice people they've never met, may suffer from mental illness or accidents.

There are burly men who are comforted by concealed carry licenses because they honestly believe that they need to protect themselves from imminent threats while out doing their Saturday chores. The danger is so real that they believe it is their logical duty to be armed and ready.

Australia and the UK don't just lack guns. We lack this mentality.

The headspace that these people live in is fucking terrifying. If I had my hometown confused with the ugliest parts of Syria, I'd want guns too. I'd want a full armoury, and I'd tell you to go fuck yourself if you tried to take them away.

Packed in with this is the unshakable belief that in the event of a psycho breaking into their home, or opening fire on the street while they're doing the shopping, they will rise up like Bruce Willis and save the day. Their home invasion will not be one where they wake up with a gun already pointed between their eyes, too late to react, or where their invader has found their gun in the bedside table before they do. When their home is invaded, their psycho will have the good sportsmanship to smash a window, or stomp loudly, so they will wake up with time to retrieve their gun from its safe. And having been jerked from sleep on a rush of adrenaline, while standing in the dark in their underpants, with a steady hand, they will coolly and calmly dispatch some thoroughly deserving person. If I thought I was going to be Bruce Willis one day, I'd sleep with a Beretta taped to my back, too.

They also have the real, honest, deep-seated paranoia that the government is on the brink of total fascist control, or total collapse. (One or the other, or both.) They believe that an armed citizenry is a vital deterrent to tyranny. Just to unpack that: they believe that a gun-toting population willing to open fire on the government - which, let's be clear, means shooting police officers and/or the men and women of the military - is the best available protection of democracy. Not the courts, not constitutional checks and balances, not civil disobedience. Guns.

(Curious, isn't it, that while there are any number of ethnic groups that might raise real issues about being disenfranchised by the government, the average NRA convention seems to be whiter than a Klan rally.)

And that is why a large segment of the American population considers the ability to fire deadly weapons to be the be-all and end-all measure of freedom - over and above the right to basic health care, or to education, or a working criminal justice system.

Australia and the UK don't just lack guns. We lack this mentality.

If you think I'm painting cartoons, go and spend some time skimming through gun owners' forums. I suggest you make sure your passport is in order first, because in an hour you're going to seriously consider relocating continents.
I'm sorry to be all negative Nellie. I really wish it was possible for some gutsy President to pass a law and make all the guns go away (and then win the heart of Annette Bening). But as long as a powerful chunk of the American population thinks they're one white man standing against a tornado of murderers and faceless government oppression, the best that gutsy President could achieve is to terrify these terrified people even more.

Sorry. I wish I could cheer you on. Wish I could play the "Look, we gave up guns, so can you!" game. Your problem is way fucking harder than ours ever was, and I have no idea how you're ever going to solve it."

Damn.

Source - Facebook.com