Cry Until We Laugh

In the wake of eight shot dead in Georgia and ten in Colorado over the past couple of weeks, I was going to take a deep dive into gun violence. I would draw on analyses discussing: a wide range of relevant data; how we compare to other countries; U.S. mass shooting statistics; going small by “chip[ping] away at a large problem through a public health approach”; and a contrary prescription that asserts, “To change the status quo, Democrats should go big.”

On second thought…

Nah.

If you’re up for exploring any or all of these excellent articles, go at it.

But what strikes me about many such analyses is, through no fault of their own, how recycled they are. They update diagnoses, descriptions and prescriptions from a few years ago. They leave me disinclined to reinvent or regurgitate the wheel on this debate.

I’m not criticizing these thoughtful, informative commentaries; they’re as valid today as when originally written. But the refrains bring to mind this piece the Onion publishes each time we have a mass shooting: “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”

Instead, then, I’ll offer constructive laughter rather than despairing tears. I’ll recycle some humorous but extremely insightful videos contrasting American firearms policies and perspectives with those of Australia.

That country’s very conservative government took decisive action in the wake of its 1996 “Port Arthur massacre,” when a single semi-automatic-wielding gunman killed 35 people and wounded 23 more.

If you only have the time or inclination to put six minutes into reflecting on a key cause of our failure to move forward on gun safety, check out John Oliver’s report on Australia for The Daily Show, from seven years ago. It’s the second segment in a three-part series, but stands well on its own. I particularly recommend it because the dual themes of political courage and political suicide resonate today:

For a more complete and equally entertaining look at Australia’s experience, here’s Oliver’s entire trilogy (and please bear with a 10-second gap between episodes):

John Olivers Daily Show Trilogy on Gun Control
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If you’d like some no-holds-barred humor (including a word that may be considered ok in Australia but not here), check out Australian comic Jim Jeffries’ classic 2015 take on America’s gun and political cultures. His assessment, including what he sees as Americans’ only argument for wanting guns, hits home hard:

After reviewing a lot of writing on the topic, I’m actually a shade less pessimistic (though only that) about gun safety reforms’ prospects than my sharing the Onion, Oliver and Jeffries pieces might indicate.

But I’ll take a shot at that some other day.