So, this past Labor Day weekend I was in Jekyll Island, Georgia, for a wedding. One of my girlfriend’s friends was getting married. On the whole, I hate weddings. They’re expensive, they’re time consuming and the pomp and pageantry of the occasion is just plain nauseating.
However, there are some positives to weddings. Free booze, mainly. (Well, it’s technically not free because of the generous gift you end up giving, at least $100 per plate is the going rate nowadays, I think). And occasionally you meet some pretty cool people.
My girlfriend’s other friend (one who wasn’t getting married) has a husband named Richard, and he was a nice guy. Although she told me about him before, I met him for the first time. He is a former Scottish rugby player who now works in corporate staffing. To be clear, not an American of Scottish descent, but an immigrant from Scotland. We got to talking and inevitably the topic of what-do-you-do-for-a-living came up and I said, “I’m a journalist. I am the news and political editor for GunsAmerica.”
“Hmmm, GunsAmerica, what’s that like?” he asked. I told him about the website, the News and Reviews portion, the retail aspect, I may have even used our tagline, “Where America Buys and Sells Guns,” and his eyes lit up and he said, “Boy, I have something you need to watch.”
He pulled out his iPhone and began playing the video I have embedded above. It’s an Australian comedian, named Jim Jefferies, doing a bit on gun control.
Richard confessed to hating guns and sharing the perspective of Jeffries, who Richard believed, perfectly summed up his feelings on gun and gun control in the routine, which is basically that gun ownership should be heavily restricted and regulated and that many commonly owned and widely popular firearms, like the AR-15, should be outright banned. In short, the U.S. should adopt European style gun laws.
I watched the video and I thought it was pretty entertaining. There were some funny parts. Jeffries is a funny comic and a skilled rhetorician. That said, I clearly disagreed with many of his arguments. And after watching it, I explained to Richard why I felt that most of what Jeffries was saying, although funny, was misguided.
I explained to Richard how the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history, Virginia Tech, wasn’t perpetrated with a so-called assault rifle but with two popular handguns; that statistically speaking, rifles of any make or model are used in less than four percent of gun homicides; that there are at least as many defensive gun uses per year (200,000 at the very least) as there are gun-related crimes in this country, meaning good guys protect themselves as often, if not more frequently, with guns than bad guys use guns in criminal acts; that gun homicides are down 49 percent in this country since 1993, meanwhile, concealed carry rights have expanded to all 50 states; that the Second Amendment is a safeguard to the preservation of liberty and that even though a government may have drones and modern military weaponry a well-trained, determined militia armed with rifles can wreak havoc on a technologically superior superpower, case in point, the U.S.’s failures in the war on terror in Iraq but specifically in Afghanistan; that before he makes a definitive judgment on the Second Amendment he should go to the range and shoot some guns (which he acknowledged he hadn’t done), and finally, that overall gun owners are good people and that, given that his wife and him now live in Florida, he should consider getting to know some.
Richard admitted that I made some good points and that perhaps the reason why he felt the way he did was because he grew up in a culture that had a passionate disdain for firearms.
In the end, I don’t know what will become of our meeting or conversation on firearms. Maybe Richard will attempt to learn more about guns, gun ownership and gun owners. Maybe he won’t. But I guess the cool part is that we were at least able to talk about a very divisive and hot-button issue, in a civil and respectful manner, over some beers, at an otherwise banal event. No one got angry. No one got upset. And we both got to share our perspectives. I guess I call that progress.
Congratulations, sounds like you did an excellent job of creating a positive experience with this immigrant. Taking the time to talk with and listen to others, without denigrating their beliefs (like liberals do) is the first step to educating/persuading them. Well done.
I have seen many gun owners interact with vistors/anti-gunners in completely irrational ways; “well of course you think that way, you were basically a servant/slave, etc” or using name calling, slogans, like the left does, etc. The best way is to be polite, patient and leave with positive impressions all around. They may still disagree with you, but the impression that you’re a good guy, who owns guns will stick with them.
Here in Arizona it is really fun to see people move/visit from socialist places like New York and discover that all of us regular people who carry openly or concealed are actually the good guys and no threat to them. Of course their “Monkey Brain” sees any gun and thinks, “Guns bad – make go away”, once they have lived here for a while they calm down and relax.
They still retain their childlike wishes of “World Peace” and “Can’t we all just get along”, etc. Therefore if all guns were gone, the world would better a place, etc. Although I’m sure that although their friends back home are simply horrified when they are told about regular citizens carrying guns in Walmart, McDonalds and inside the bank, they themselves eventually regard it as a normal part of daily life.
If people raised in the U.S. have these false notions of guns and armed citizens, we can all afford to be extra patient and understanding when speaking to Scots or other foreigners.
Don’t agree with his message but damn, I thought he was funny.
You think this likes girls? Don’t know about asstralia, but now the weapon of choice is a cricket bat, almost as much damage as a small caliber pistol and no noise!
What a funny guy. He’s right about one thing; there haven’t been anymore massacres in Australia. But, lets have a look at crime overall, shall we? In 2002 — five years after enacting its gun ban — the Australian Bureau of Criminology acknowledged there is no correlation between gun control and the use of firearms in violent crime. In fact, the percent of murders committed with a firearm was the highest it had ever been in 2006 (16.3 percent), says the D.C. Examiner.
Even Australia’s Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research acknowledges that the gun ban had no significant impact on the amount of gun-involved crime: In 2006, assault rose 49.2 percent and robbery 6.2 percent.
Sexual assault — Australia’s equivalent term for rape — increased 29.9 percent.
Overall, Australia’s violent crime rate rose 42.2 percent. Moreover, Australia and the United States — where no gun-ban exists — both experienced similar decreases in murder rates: Between 1995 and 2007, Australia saw a 31.9 percent decrease; without a gun ban, America’s rate dropped 31.7 percent. During the same time period, all other violent crime indices increased in Australia: assault rose 49.2 percent and robbery 6.2 percent. Sexual assault — Australia’s equivalent term for rape — increased 29.9 percent. Overall, Australia’s violent crime rate rose 42.2 percent. At the same time, U.S. violent crime decreased 31.8 percent: rape dropped 19.2 percent; robbery decreased 33.2 percent; aggravated assault dropped 32.2 percent.
Australian women are now raped over three times as often as American women.
So, if the USA follows Australia’s lead in banning guns, it should expect a 42 percent increase in violent crime, a higher percentage of murders committed with a gun, and three times more rape. It sounds like Utopia to me! Well what about Great Britain? Didn’t they outlaw guns too? Yup, they sure did. The International Crime Victims Survey, conducted by Leiden University in Holland, found that England and Wales ranked second overall in violent crime among industrialized nations. Twenty-six percent of English citizens — roughly one-quarter of the population — have been victimized by violent crime. Australia led the list with more than 30 percent of its population victimized. The United States didn’t even make the “top 10″ list of industrialized nations whose citizens were victimized by crime. Yes, gun bans obviously work. Unfortunately, they work in favor of the criminals, not the law-abiding citizens. A good thing this guy is funny, he would be horrible in a job requiring actual rational thought.
Typical moron!
This isn\’t funny. It\’s crude and profane. Why do we let people in the house who always use the F-bomb?
I watched the video but I don\’t feel enlightened or that I had a good laugh from it. And if you watch the
related videos of this comedian you learn that he has a good command of all the other foul words in the
language. Kick him out of the house and back into the gutter where he belongs.
Like bleeding heart liberal hollywood movie actors who hate guns but they make their living off of using guns in their movies.If they were truly against guns then they should turn down roles that have them use guns, but guns are fine as long as I’m making money I guess….
Jim Jefferies is also capitalizing off of guns and making money if he didn’t he would have to go back to eating shrimp off the barbie……
Screw little Jimmie, the Aussie & Richard both! Richard needs to get his rugby loving arse back to Scotland where he belongs. First off, there is no such thing as gun control unless you are talking about using two hands. What both their wankers want is more people control so the US can be over run by every kind of perverted miscreant known to man just like their countries are becoming.
Hey Jim & Dick, get the hell out of my country & stay out & I’ll stay out of yours.
You can tell by his dependency on profanity that this guy has limited intelligence. People that curse every third word are simply not very bright and are not worth listening to.
Profanity has nothing to do with a persons intelligence, but rather vocabulary choice you dolt.
“Profanity is the result of feeble mind attempting to express itself forcibly.” Spencer Kimball
Or maybe, Richard could just move back to where ever people think like him and be safe.
“What kind of world do you live in, that you’re ready all the time?!?!?”
The real one, Mr. Jeffries, where the average LEO response time is 6 minutes.
I live in the world where my wife and two little girls are precious enough to me that I would give my life to defend them, but would much prefer to take the life of their attacker.
I live in the world where agents of federal, state, and local governments perform extra judicial executions of unarmed citizens and face zero consequence.
I live in the world where an ethnic minority population has declared war on people of my skin color.
I live in a world where members of a religious sect bring AKs to cartoon contests.
I live in a world where “gun-free zones” are still regarded as a good idea, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
But mostly, I live in a world where I have accepted the fact that protecting the continued existence of myself and my family is both my right and responsibility, and not that of any other person or government agency.
This is what it means to be an American. I’m glad you’re here legally, I’m glad you pay taxes, but your mindset is still that of a “subject”, and not a “citizen”.
Amen Brother!!
The comments on this video are just about what I expected they would be and that causes me a little concern. While I am not a big supporter of much of what passes for gun control proposals these days I think that most of the people pushing them are doing so on the basis of genuine concern for public safety from a point of view that is simply vastly different than that of most of us who frequent this and other web sites like it. If we don’t, can’t, or won’t take the time to hear what they have to say, or in this case to listen in on what a comic has to say that strikes a chord with them, we risk not having the information and understanding we need to effectively counter or moderate their attempts at new controls or bans. If the Second Amendment lobby has to couch the discussion in terms of “them and us”, and I don’t think that it is necessary to do so, then “know your enemy” certainly must follow. Let’s face it, Jefferies is funny even if ill informed, and some of his arguments are ones we have had to deal with in Washington, D.C., where now one at the time was laughing. We do need to have reasonable talking points to address the other side of this issue in order to hold the line on the right to bear arms and so far “beating back an oppressive government” hasn’t made many converts in this century and the number of cases of “defending the homestead”, while uber significant for the family saved, are statistically too few to lend traction to our cause just as school mass shootings are too infrequent to make the case for taking away all of the ‘black guns” by the other side. Jefferies routine is a good example of how the extremes fail to serve either end of the topic. I own guns, I shoot, and I don’t want my rights restricted but then I don’t have a loaded gun laying on the kitchen counter in easy reach to defend the house (and where it could end up causing a family tragedy) and in a lively debate with people I know who don’t support gun ownership I can’t make a credible argument for having to take to the hills to overthrow the government either. Perhaps Jefferies is partly right, I like guns, I am responsible, I want my guns and FUCK OFF….Oh, and it is in the Constitution.
Another Idiot from Austraila who lives in la la land, Just look at the rise in violent crime (400-600%) in that country after 1996 in his home country. Maybe that is why he is here, Oh by the way they had a firearm registration list to use to confiscate the legally owned firearms as a result of the 1996 law there. No gun laws he proposes would have stopped a crazy person illegally obtaining a firearm and committing a mass shooting as was Sandy Hook.
I have seen Jim Jeffries show in person before and it was the worst show I have ever been to. Half the crowd walked out when he started making fun of 9/11 and our troops. I didn’t watch the video above as I will never watch anything else he is a part of. It’s ridiculous we give green cards to idiots like that who have no respect for the country allowing them in.
I agree that unresponsable people should not have guns or do any of those other things. If we would enforce laws that are already written and check out those that are insane, just maybe…. we might stop a few of these.
I do not believe:
1. That the war between the states was not about slavery(the rest of the world believes this yankee bs)
2. Our right to bear arms is to keep government tyranny in check – therefore, it should include anything that any government can use against us(whether or not it is our own local, state or federal or outside interests and let us not forget other interests like terrorists). We have a right to protect ourselves against any intrusion on our rights.
Jim “who”?
Watched about 1/4th of this liberal socialist talking points rant and could not stomach any more. Seems as though the “Brady Bunch” or Bloomborg writes his “comedy”.
“In short, the U.S. should adopt European style gun laws.”
That’s why european countries are right now looking at ways to ban knifes and or sharp pointed objects as they say! Their anti gun laws have just raised the rate of stabbings to a point they now have to do something about it! Give the government an inch they’ll take 10 miles or more!
Sandy Hook:
1. The internet bandwidth usage for the Sandy Hook Elementary School went to ZERO after the school was closed on 2008 due to issues such as mold, asbestos, ands roof leak that refused to stay repaired (hence the mold). It had become a “sick school” yet was still a prime candidate for authorities to practice “exercises”.
2. Through what manner of “foresight” had someone preordered a battery of Port-A-Johns to be used in the parking lot of the Sandy Hook Fire Department at the head of Richardson Rd. that morning?
These inconvenient little “details” are what plague the libtard gun-control fanatics because they operate on “feelings”, not facts.
I watched this about half way through. I didn’t find him all that funny and I thought his approach was to use all the stereotype false impressions about gun owners and likewise about Australia’s success with their gun confiscation law which statistically has been shown to not work as they expected. Criminals still get guns and law abiding citizens have no means of protection. I do give him credit that he began the piece by saying he thoroughly disliked guns so you knew what was coming. What I found offensive was his portayal of gun owners as people who had no legitimate need for a firearm, they were just people who “liked guns”. He likewise dismissed the fact that in a majority of home invasions the residents without a means of protection are killed, the perpetrators don’t “just want your TV” as he put it.
It’s people like this who believe there is only one way with regard to firearm laws “their way or the highway” that dominate the “gun control” debate. A debate that has very little if anything to do with “gun control” and a lot to do with just plain “control”. An armed populace is a resistant populace and tyranically leaning governments and their bureaucrats don’t like that. They want you docile and subservient. That’s why every dicatorship in the world has instituted firearm confiscation as their first order of business. Always conducted under the rubric of “protecting the citizens”.
So yuck it up at comedians who believe gun confiscation is acceptable but beware because they will eventually be having the last laugh when you give up your rights.
I find it very hard to find someone funny or being able to deliver a coherent, reasoned argument when he cannot deliver a sentence of more than two words in length without using vulgar, profane language. Anyone who uses vulgarity and profane language to the extent that he does, obviously does not have the intelligence or sufficient command of the English language to express himself competently and knowledgeably on a subject about which he knows nothing nor has experience with.
Why do all these immigrants want to make America look like the third world sewer they just left? Don’t like your country of origin? Stay there and fix it, make it better. Otherwise, come here legally and embrace America for what it is, and you will be welcomed, try and change it and you might find your sorry butt in need of a return ticket back to “home”
Liberty is tolerance, and Richard exercised tolerance of ideas other than his own. It is increasingly rare in this day to find those whose minds are not so closed that they are quite convinced that theirs is the only opinion worthy of consideration. I commend the author for writing this, as any example of a person lighting a brushfire of Liberty in the minds of men is a step in the right direction.
Actually Australia did have a massacre after the guns were restricted 6 people were beaten to death with baseball bats one night as they were sleeping in their beds by home intruders and there have been a lot of home owners in Australia victimized by armed intruders who were armed with illegal pistols which are becoming a serious problem in Australia these days but you will never here this from them.
As for shooting someone who breaks into your house here in the states there are thousands of cases of people defending their themselves and their families in these situations and I’m one myself so this idiot can shove his opinions back up his back side because he doesn’t know a thing.
I occasionally listen to comics on You-tube while at work. I was listening to this guy a while back and thought he was pretty funny. After hearing his anti-gun rant, I was nauseated and decided that I am done with him. There are certain people; Rosie O’Donnell, Michael Moore, Piers Morgan, Obama, and now Jim Jefferies…whom when I hear their voice, I instantly shut down and change the channel.
Yea, I have to admit he is funny and all but in reality he’s just using humor to manipulate the truth. The fact is if someone breaks through my door at night I’m going to reach into the night stand drawer, draw my gun and blow 13 holes in the mother fucker. I don’t care if he’s there to steal my fuckin tv or not. I don’t know that. He might be nuts and one of those weirdos that like to kill entire families and then have sex with their corpses. Fuck, I don’t know, there’s all kinds of weirdos out there. I live near enough to a run down city that used to have lots of industry and is now pretty much all drugs and ghetto. It’s quite a few miles and for the most part that’s a good enough buffer, but the problem is the local kids haven’t gone through what we older people have and bring in the slime. They don’t realize the slime is breaking into houses when they leave the party at their place. Yea, I have guns because I like em. I like the fact that if someone decides to rob me or break into my home or fuck with me I can blast several very large holes in their ass. I really do like that fact. If this guy doesn’t like it here, if he thinks it should be like Austrailia…why the fuck did he leave there? If “back there” was so fucking great why’d he leave? The fact is they come here to earn a living. They can’t be prosperous there so they come here. That means you play by our rules now fucker or go back and earn a living there. Ok, I’m off my soap box now… LOL
I’m an Australian shooter , I don’t think Jim Jeffries knows that AR-15s are still LEGAL in Australia , but they are heavily restricted and regulated to professional pest controllers.
I have a Category A&B license which allows me to legally possess all manner of manually operated rifles from .22 rimfire to a .50cal , but I can’t legally possess a handgun unless I got a Category H license.
So I can own “a big scary gun” , but not a semi-auto rifle or semi-auto/pump action shotgun or pistol.
I live in the country and I honestly believe the problem is people , heaps of people in the country have guns and we don’t have shootings nearly at the rate of the cities of Australia.
Criminal enterprises in Australia import and manufacture all manner of firearms , most commonly handguns and rifles are imported and a massive number of homemade submachine guns are being found by police in drug busts and bikie gang raids here in Australia.
We also had a downward trend in gun violence for years in Australia both before and after the 1996/1997 firearms reform.
Please don’t take Jim Jeffries opinion as a typical Australian outlook on firearms , the vast majority of people who live in cities in Australia have never been exposed to gun culture first hand and only take the negative perspective that the media and anti-gun groups purpourt.
Glad you had a meaningful discussion and possibly won this gentleman over. While I get that every one is entitled to their own opinion, even those different from mine, many who come to the US seem to only focus on trying to change the US into their home country. All I can say is, what’s the point of that? If you don’t want something different than your current home country, why would you want to move someplace new and make it just like the place you left???!!! The US is an EXCEPTIONAL country built on freedoms by people and for people. Unlike most other countries that were founded on/by rulers/monarchs/dictators/governments. This is part of the infectious disease currently rampant in the US called Obama-cide. In short, the infected victims believe America is no more exceptional than any other country. We need to get rid of this nasty contagion. The only way to do that is with a mega-dose injection of TRUTH right in the buttocks!!! I could continue here but all you red-blooded American Patriots know exactly what I would say if I were to continue typing. But let me say this…..we are a melting pot, NOT a pot being molded.
Another communist immigrant coming to his adopted country refusing to attempt to understand the existing culture. This is the same same thing the Muslims do. They infiltrate a society an corrode it to their beliefs. The liberals want us to constantly conform and adapt to their changing of our culture. They expect us to except gun confiscation, homosexuality, and the list can go on forever. This is a clear definition of a proxy war. Its thrown at us everyday. We are expected to roll over and take it with no foreplay , no lube, not even a kiss on the neck. We are in a sad sad state…..
I’m a not a liberal or a conservative. I don’t let those factions choose what I believe. I believe in a woman’s right to choose, I believe in the death penalty, and I believe in our constitution. That includes the right to bare arms AND civil rights. When you try to link anti 2A rights movements and homosexuality you don’t help the 2A culture. It’s the exact opposite of what the article was about. Treating people who don’t think or act as you do with respect, just as you wish to be treated, is paramount to educating them. Pretty sure there’s something about that in a “good book”.
mr. jacobs, you are an idiot. YOU are the problem, not the scottish man the author was talking about, nor the homosexuals.