Take a look back at a special three-part series with John Oliver, as he tests the arguments for and against gun control. After hearing from Americans why legislation could never work, he visits Australia where... it did. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What is the current state of the gun control debate in the US?
Welcome back for more on the gun debate. We're bringing the first part of a three-part series with John Oliver.
Chapter 2: What are common arguments against gun control by gun lobbyists?
Yesterday, Americans watched in shock as even watered-down gun legislation died on the floor of the Senate. But that is exactly where it belongs, according to gun lobbyists like Philip Van Cleave of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
The Second Amendment, you know, is sacrosanct.
You hold up this sign whenever I make a suggestion that you think is infringing upon your Second Amendment rights, okay? Okay. Assault weapons ban. Boom, there it is, increased background checks. Really? Yes. Just for background checks?
We don't do background checks for the First Amendment.
Okay, so let's just try this one. Okay. Nice and easy. Sure. A mandatory one-hour waiting period if you buy a gun.
Why a man... Are you kidding me? Unless I could see a reason. No. I can't think of anything that I support. Because at the end of the day, none of it works.
Exactly. Gun control does not work. What if, hypothetically speaking, what if gun control could work? Which obviously it can't, so we know that it won't, so that's not a problem. But what if it could, due to that time that it did?
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Chapter 3: How did Australia implement gun control after the Port Arthur massacre?
Okay, when was that?
Australia. Yes, Australia. In 1996, a conservative prime minister, John Howard, instituted sweeping gun control laws following a mass shooting that shocked the nation. So should we be learning from this effective example? Of course not.
I guess if we're going to go to Planet X and say it's not the United States, it's some other planet, different people, different everything, I don't know, yeah. But in the real world with human beings, it's not going to work and gun control isn't going to work.
Unfortunately, not only is Australia actually in the real world, even their animals can holster weapons. So who was right about gun control? There was only one way to find out. Confront the man responsible. Mr Prime Minister, let's begin in the formal Australian way. G'day. How do you do? Obviously gun control doesn't work. It can't work. It will never work. So how was your scheme a failure?
Well, my scheme was not a failure. We had a massacre at a place called Port Arthur 17 years ago, and there have been none since. Zero gun massacres? Hold on.
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Chapter 4: Did Australia's gun control laws effectively reduce gun violence?
Did gun control actually work?
It stopped one thing. That could also be a statistical anomaly.
Yeah. It was just their mass shootings disappeared.
But there were so few of them. Whoop-dee-doo. Whoop-dee-doo. Yeah. Whoop-dee-doo. Yes. Mass shootings were rare anyhow.
Exactly. They probably barely had a massacre before 1996. There were about 13 in the previous 18 years. In the 18 years before Port Arthur, there were 13 mass shootings.
Yes.
Almost one a year.
I was unaware they had that many. Mass being, what, more than two people at a time? More than four. More than four. Okay.
Whoop-de-doo.
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Chapter 5: Why do some Americans believe gun control won't work in the US?
But perhaps there were other non-whoop-de-doo side effects. The homicide rate involving the use of guns has declined significantly by factors of up to 50 and 60 percent. And the incidence of youth suicides involving guns has declined dramatically.
Whoop-de- do. Help me out here, Philip. Homicides with guns went down. Suicide with guns also went down. Zero mass shootings.
What did happen? Australia still has murders, rapes, and robberies, last I checked.
Unless you can get rid of 100% of crime, it's not worth doing at all.
Well, put it this way. It's illegal to have crack cocaine anywhere in the United States. Do you think if somebody really wants it, they can get their hands on crack cocaine in America?
So unless we can completely get rid of drugs, there's no point in having drug laws at all.
Let me think about that for a minute. Well, I guess effectively... It doesn't work.
You can't argue with Philip. Even his logic is bulletproof.
Well, let me put it to you this way. There are more drownings in backyards where they have pools. If they don't have a pool, there are no drownings in backyards, okay? So, the US has a very high number of guns. Therefore, there is going to be more chances for somebody to be killed with a gun.
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Chapter 6: How did political risks affect gun control legislation efforts in Australia?
Right. Right. Right. That's my point. Philip might think that living in a society with dramatically reduced gun violence is a whoop-dee-doo, and people in Australia couldn't agree with him more.
Whoop-dee-doo! Whoop-dee-doo, mate! Whoop-dee-doo!
Whoop-dee-doo, for whatever that means. Whoop-dee-doo!
Chapter 7: Who are key political figures involved in Australia's gun control reforms?
Time over.
We'll be right back. So last week, as we were watching on the show, last week we learned that while our United States Senate was unable to pass even the most basic gun control measures, Australia has had a successful gun control scheme for almost two decades. John Oliver visited our cousins from across a couple of ponds to find out more in part two of our three-part series.
In 1996, following a massacre, Australia's conservative government enforced a national buyback of semi-automatic weapons, while also heavily regulating the purchase and storage of other firearms. The result was dramatically reduced levels of gun violence. So why can't we do that here? To find out, I sat down with long-time aide to Harry Reid, Jim Manley.
The NRA is still a very powerful force in this country. They have 4 million members who are very, very determined to get their way.
And how can a nation of 300 million compete with that?
It's difficult to understand sometimes, isn't it? But the fact of the matter is that you've got to think long and hard before you support gun control legislation, because taking on the NRA can be political suicide.
And the Democratic Party is working tirelessly to reduce the rate of political suicide among its members. Surely, Australian politicians weren't stupid enough to end their political lives for gun control.
Well, I did. What? I did. You did what? I took the stand. I was prepared to face the political consequences. And we delivered gun control.
Meet Rob Borbidge, former Premier of Queensland, Australia's most conservative state. In 1996, he was instrumental in enacting gun control, knowing it would cost him his political career in the next election.
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Chapter 8: What lessons can the US learn from Australia's approach to gun control?
We paid a high political price, but we did the right thing. Look, there are Australians alive today because we took that action. I mean, how much is a life worth?
But Jim Manley knows that a true public servant has more important concerns.
What makes a politician successful? Getting re-elected by his or her constituents.
Right. Yeah.
That's how you judge success.
OK, that's...
Well, getting legislation done. It's second. It's second, yes. That is second. Holy ****, that is second?
If I could rewind this tape, I'd say getting legislation done and getting re-elected by your constituents. Thank you.
But seeing as we can't rewind the tape, let's just go with the answer you gave on instinct.
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