"private gun ownership in Australia has gone up in recent years"
There's a reason for that. Australian conservatives are getting help from the NRA on how to normalize guns in Australia. Saw some of these people talking and they flat-out state how they're working on with an eventual goal of unregulated guns everywhere.
For the eleventymillionth time, The 2A does not guarantee that EVERYBODY gets to have a gun of their choice, to carry it with them at all times Without going into a depth of history as to the reasons in the 18th century to have an armed citizenry. suffice to say that ownership of weapons is conditioned upon your will and ability to muster into a "well regulated militias" if the lawful government requests your participation
I am Australian (as most of you know, I was born and reared in America and moved to Oz to marry my deadly handsome partner.) I am also Jewish.
I didn't realise until I moved here a decade ago that I have severe gunphobia: my stepmother has threatened murder-suicide several times with her police service piece, once notably with the safety off and pointing it at us. It took me years to stop hearing every bin lid slam and car backfire as a gunshot, and I grew up in Rich White Ladyland. (I have also lived in the country and in the inner city where gunshots are all too normal.)
I am heartbroken and reeling from this shooting. All the more so from the lies and hate that promptly sprang up around it. Ahmed Al Ahmed is righteous among the nations. Australia, and America, ARE stronger for our diversity. It's a direct rebuke to the lies people tell about one another.
That Michael Tracey tweet is such typical RW bullsh*t. "I thought Australia abolished mass shootings..." RWers love to say "I thought." Like, I thought Whoopie Goldberg was leaving the country. When I respond to their stupid comments, I do compliment them on thinking, since it's such a rare quality among MAGA.
Oh lord! Michael Tracey is still a thing? In 2025? I'm *so* going back to bed this time.
The argument is, as usual, "if A can't stop B entirely, then A is useless", and I'm way too tired and my teeth too itchy to rehash this fallacious bullshit.
I think you buried the lede, which is that Australians very quickly reached the un-American-logical conclusion that one solution to this is fewer guns, and they are proceeding to act on that.
New Zealand is even more illogical. From Wikipedia:
"The gun laws of New Zealand are contained in the Arms Act 1983 statute, which includes multiple amendments including those that were passed subsequent to the 1990 Aramoana massacre and the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.
Nearly 300,000[1] licensed firearm owners own and use New Zealand's estimated 1.5 million[1] firearms.[2][needs update] Gun licences are issued at the discretion of the police provided they consider the person to be of good standing[3][4] and without criminal, psychiatric or drug issues; as well as meeting other conditions such as having suitable storage facilities. Several different categories of licence are permitted, with the most common, "A Category", permitting access to sporting configuration rifles and shotguns.
Tighter regulation was imposed immediately after the Aramoana massacre in 1990, and the Scottish Dunblane and Australian Port Arthur massacres in 1996. After the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, legislation to restrict semi-automatic firearms and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, and provide an amnesty and buyback of such weapons, was introduced and passed by the New Zealand parliament 119 to 1.[5][6][7]"
51 were killed in Christchurch in 2019. Since then there has been one shooting, in Auckland in 2023, in which 3 were killed. In the United States we have averaged more than one mass shooting PER DAY in 2025.
Shaking my head, as I always do when my fellow-progressive friends argue for unilateral disarmament BEFORE they win the civil war. (Which isn't "coming," or "threatened." It's HERE. McConnell's refusal to hold hearings on Garland's appt. was our Fort Sumter moment. Progressives are STILL clueless about that.)
Between next November and January, 2029, there is plenty of time for the Pumpkin Pinochet to pardon his brown-shirts for whatever ARMED mayhem they visit on Blue-state polling locations. Between November 2028 and January 2029, the same. You think that they'll ignore laws against murder and rioting, but gun-confiscation laws they'll comply with? What's your factual basis for that claim?
I remember my friends scoffing at my concerns about our civil war, saying things like: let's see how their little militias do against the full might of the U.S. military! I asked them what their factual basis might be for the claim that the military (or even the police) wuld come down on our side. Crickets, of course.
Well, now we know. And if you disagree, maybe you should run that by some dead Venezuelan civilians.
I hope that I'm wrong about all of this. Meanwhile--get some weapons. Get some training. And keep your powder dry.
We need more young people like Cameron Kasky speaking out, as clearly and articulately as he did in that clip, about this problem. I'm glad he's running for Congress. I can't vote for him directly, but I hope we hear more about his campaign here at Wonkette.
Bitching about the tragedy in Australia and saying they thought that they stopped that a few years back is like saying the Sahara is no longer a desert because they have rain occasionally. Worst logic ever.
Limiting guns and making semi-automatics illegal will go a long way. This gentleman is correct. Common sense steps must be taken. You have to go through safety and vehicle operation training more with a motorcycle than with guns. Making people pay high insurance rates when you own more than the reasonable amount (which means one to me but I'm sure not others) can also be a deterrent. Australia asked for people to give up their guns voluntarily to great success.
Semi-automatics leave huge holes in peoples bodies and imagine how much more so for young children. Listen to the horror stories medical professionals talk about the extreme physical damage these firearms leave behind.
In movies people get shot with these weapons of destruction and yet, just seem to walk away after being patched up. Nothing could be further from the truth and they never even touch on the psychic damage and PTSD.
My husband wants to get a gun and for 30 years I have said no. I simply hate and greatly fear them and want nothing to do with them. Thank goodness he's willing to conceded on this point and now I think he's just teasing me to see my reaction.
Sherry, the tendency of firearms to cause damage is not a function of their operating mechanism. It's a function of their caliber and muzzle velocity. In fact, the most powerful, lethal firearms tend to NOT be semi-automatics, as bolt-actions and other designs are inherently stronger.
I don't think that that takes anything away from the rest of your essay.
Thanks for the clarification as I know much to nothing about the gun and the damage done, only having read an article a while back by a Dr telling people how much damage they inflict on children and how it’s almost impossible to mitigate extreme damage. Now, I can see a howitzer being pretty bad, so right there with ya. Thanks again for the enlightenment.
My youngest has been training in hospitals for 5 years and has never seen a gunshot wound. She works in a big city with lots of crime. Another friend has worked in big city ER for pushing 20 years and never seen one either. We live in the UK where there are very strict gun laws and we haven't 🤞had a mass shooting for decades.
of course, in Trumpistan, the hero Ahmed al Ahmed would be arrested in his hospital bed, disappeared to some site in Arizona and then deported to some South American country to die of gangrene.
Someone obviously read the old Mad Magazine Bonanza satire where the family went through several sayings, including (I think) "The family that slays together stays together." Or was it "The family that bathes together stays together?" Both?
"private gun ownership in Australia has gone up in recent years"
There's a reason for that. Australian conservatives are getting help from the NRA on how to normalize guns in Australia. Saw some of these people talking and they flat-out state how they're working on with an eventual goal of unregulated guns everywhere.
America ceased to be a first world country a long time ago.
For the eleventymillionth time, The 2A does not guarantee that EVERYBODY gets to have a gun of their choice, to carry it with them at all times Without going into a depth of history as to the reasons in the 18th century to have an armed citizenry. suffice to say that ownership of weapons is conditioned upon your will and ability to muster into a "well regulated militias" if the lawful government requests your participation
I am Australian (as most of you know, I was born and reared in America and moved to Oz to marry my deadly handsome partner.) I am also Jewish.
I didn't realise until I moved here a decade ago that I have severe gunphobia: my stepmother has threatened murder-suicide several times with her police service piece, once notably with the safety off and pointing it at us. It took me years to stop hearing every bin lid slam and car backfire as a gunshot, and I grew up in Rich White Ladyland. (I have also lived in the country and in the inner city where gunshots are all too normal.)
I am heartbroken and reeling from this shooting. All the more so from the lies and hate that promptly sprang up around it. Ahmed Al Ahmed is righteous among the nations. Australia, and America, ARE stronger for our diversity. It's a direct rebuke to the lies people tell about one another.
They never miss a chance to be assholes.
"All the jackasses screaming about immigrants being the problem can kindly shut the fuck up."
Spoiler alert: NOTHING will ever make them shut up.
That Michael Tracey tweet is such typical RW bullsh*t. "I thought Australia abolished mass shootings..." RWers love to say "I thought." Like, I thought Whoopie Goldberg was leaving the country. When I respond to their stupid comments, I do compliment them on thinking, since it's such a rare quality among MAGA.
Oh lord! Michael Tracey is still a thing? In 2025? I'm *so* going back to bed this time.
The argument is, as usual, "if A can't stop B entirely, then A is useless", and I'm way too tired and my teeth too itchy to rehash this fallacious bullshit.
I've never heard of him. I suppose I should be grateful for that.
Consider yourself blessed. He's a rather childish "Well, actually"-contrarian.
I think you buried the lede, which is that Australians very quickly reached the un-American-logical conclusion that one solution to this is fewer guns, and they are proceeding to act on that.
New Zealand is even more illogical. From Wikipedia:
"The gun laws of New Zealand are contained in the Arms Act 1983 statute, which includes multiple amendments including those that were passed subsequent to the 1990 Aramoana massacre and the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.
Nearly 300,000[1] licensed firearm owners own and use New Zealand's estimated 1.5 million[1] firearms.[2][needs update] Gun licences are issued at the discretion of the police provided they consider the person to be of good standing[3][4] and without criminal, psychiatric or drug issues; as well as meeting other conditions such as having suitable storage facilities. Several different categories of licence are permitted, with the most common, "A Category", permitting access to sporting configuration rifles and shotguns.
Tighter regulation was imposed immediately after the Aramoana massacre in 1990, and the Scottish Dunblane and Australian Port Arthur massacres in 1996. After the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, legislation to restrict semi-automatic firearms and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, and provide an amnesty and buyback of such weapons, was introduced and passed by the New Zealand parliament 119 to 1.[5][6][7]"
51 were killed in Christchurch in 2019. Since then there has been one shooting, in Auckland in 2023, in which 3 were killed. In the United States we have averaged more than one mass shooting PER DAY in 2025.
Ta, Gary. It's the fucking guns, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Shaking my head, as I always do when my fellow-progressive friends argue for unilateral disarmament BEFORE they win the civil war. (Which isn't "coming," or "threatened." It's HERE. McConnell's refusal to hold hearings on Garland's appt. was our Fort Sumter moment. Progressives are STILL clueless about that.)
Between next November and January, 2029, there is plenty of time for the Pumpkin Pinochet to pardon his brown-shirts for whatever ARMED mayhem they visit on Blue-state polling locations. Between November 2028 and January 2029, the same. You think that they'll ignore laws against murder and rioting, but gun-confiscation laws they'll comply with? What's your factual basis for that claim?
I remember my friends scoffing at my concerns about our civil war, saying things like: let's see how their little militias do against the full might of the U.S. military! I asked them what their factual basis might be for the claim that the military (or even the police) wuld come down on our side. Crickets, of course.
Well, now we know. And if you disagree, maybe you should run that by some dead Venezuelan civilians.
I hope that I'm wrong about all of this. Meanwhile--get some weapons. Get some training. And keep your powder dry.
--Cassandra
ummm......no.
Thank you for setting me straight, Dorothea. There I was, heading down a very crooked, dark path, but your unassailable logic has saved me!
--Cassandra
gfy.
We need more young people like Cameron Kasky speaking out, as clearly and articulately as he did in that clip, about this problem. I'm glad he's running for Congress. I can't vote for him directly, but I hope we hear more about his campaign here at Wonkette.
Bitching about the tragedy in Australia and saying they thought that they stopped that a few years back is like saying the Sahara is no longer a desert because they have rain occasionally. Worst logic ever.
Limiting guns and making semi-automatics illegal will go a long way. This gentleman is correct. Common sense steps must be taken. You have to go through safety and vehicle operation training more with a motorcycle than with guns. Making people pay high insurance rates when you own more than the reasonable amount (which means one to me but I'm sure not others) can also be a deterrent. Australia asked for people to give up their guns voluntarily to great success.
Semi-automatics leave huge holes in peoples bodies and imagine how much more so for young children. Listen to the horror stories medical professionals talk about the extreme physical damage these firearms leave behind.
In movies people get shot with these weapons of destruction and yet, just seem to walk away after being patched up. Nothing could be further from the truth and they never even touch on the psychic damage and PTSD.
My husband wants to get a gun and for 30 years I have said no. I simply hate and greatly fear them and want nothing to do with them. Thank goodness he's willing to conceded on this point and now I think he's just teasing me to see my reaction.
"Semi-automatics leave huge holes..."
Sherry, the tendency of firearms to cause damage is not a function of their operating mechanism. It's a function of their caliber and muzzle velocity. In fact, the most powerful, lethal firearms tend to NOT be semi-automatics, as bolt-actions and other designs are inherently stronger.
I don't think that that takes anything away from the rest of your essay.
Thanks for the clarification as I know much to nothing about the gun and the damage done, only having read an article a while back by a Dr telling people how much damage they inflict on children and how it’s almost impossible to mitigate extreme damage. Now, I can see a howitzer being pretty bad, so right there with ya. Thanks again for the enlightenment.
My youngest has been training in hospitals for 5 years and has never seen a gunshot wound. She works in a big city with lots of crime. Another friend has worked in big city ER for pushing 20 years and never seen one either. We live in the UK where there are very strict gun laws and we haven't 🤞had a mass shooting for decades.
*nods*
have we mentioned Graham sinking to the occasion?
𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘖𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 ‘𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩’ 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘚𝘐𝘚 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/lindsey-graham-australia-shooting-obama-biden-b2885538.html
At first I thought "I'd love to read the logic behind that statement," but on 2nd thought I said "why bother?"
Graham better watch himself, his face is so brown from being buried in Turmp's ass that he might be Kavanaughed and deported. His accent is weird too.
of course, in Trumpistan, the hero Ahmed al Ahmed would be arrested in his hospital bed, disappeared to some site in Arizona and then deported to some South American country to die of gangrene.
Someone obviously read the old Mad Magazine Bonanza satire where the family went through several sayings, including (I think) "The family that slays together stays together." Or was it "The family that bathes together stays together?" Both?
Or preys together always an option..