Yesterday’s mass shooting in Highland Park, Il. It overshadowed the celebration of Fourth-of- July. The shooting was a chance for Liam Hendricks, Chicago White Sox relief pitcher, to talk about gun safety.
Hendricks, who is from Australia, bashed America’s gun laws in an interview after the Sox’s game against the Minnesota Twins.
“There’s lots of good things over there, but you need to see the downsides… As a non-American, I could walk into any store and purchase a gun in some states. That baffles me,” Hendricks said. “I had to take a driving test when I was over here. To get a gun, I will not have to go through a test. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot.”
Hendricks said that Australia is an excellent example of why restricting access to firearms should be done.
“We had a mass shooting, and when that mass shooting happened the government came in and was like, ‘Yeah we can’t do this we’re going to do a buy-back program,’” Hendricks said. “All of a sudden, suicide rates dropped drastically, our gun-related homicides dropped infinitely, and it’s something that has pretty much kept on.”
He also added that self-protection “isn’t a good enough reason to get a gun.”
“I had to take a driving test when I [came]Over [to America]. I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot.” – Liam Hendriks pic.twitter.com/iErEJWfPzg
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) July 4, 2022
To be fair, Australia has had only one mass shooting since the government implemented their mandatory buy-back program in 1996 (note the word “mandatory,” something Hendricks did not mention). However, the Australian people are able to protect themselves against an oppressive government.
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Australia was home to some of the most restrictive lockdown regulations in the world. They enforced an incredibly draconian stay at home order for several months, and police officers would go to people’s houses to make sure they were staying inside. It was easy for the government to oppress its citizens, in part due to Australians’ inability to resist.
It is this reason that the Second Amendment has such an important status for Americans. Hendricks was not the only one who saw how tyrannical governments could easily subjugate citizens who are unable to defend themselves. This is why every American has a Constitutionally protected right to have firearms. While mass shootings do occur and are undoubtedly tragic, it is wrong to assume that taking away guns to stop them will make citizens dependent on the government for fair treatment. This has been proven to be a bad course of action.
It’s also not as easy for foreigners to get firearms as Hendricks would have you believe. If legal immigrants have been granted a nonimmigrant Visa, they can legally purchase firearms. If you’re an American citizen you can purchase firearms. However, if you aren’t a full-fledged citizen, you can’t buy one. Hendricks, who isn’t a citizen full-fledged, lied to the public about his ability and willingness to purchase a gun.
This assessment really misses the mark for Hendricks.
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