Well, there are lots of people he could turn to, but in this case it was Howard, who brought in Australia’s tight gun laws after the Port Arthur massacre saw 17 people killed in 1996.
Gun lobbyist Phillip Van Cleave was told of how Howard’s government banned firearms after the massacre and there hadn’t been one since – deaths including homicide and suicide as the result of guns had also drastically reduced.
Van Cleave, sticking to his guns if you will, dubbed Australia Planet X and said the figure from Howard was a “statistical anomaly”.
“Yeah, it was just that [Australia’s] mass shootings disappeared,” Oliver retorted.
“But there were so few [shootings in Australia before 1996],” Van Cleave responded. “Whoopty do!”
Howard told Oliver that before Port Arthur Australia had endured 13 mass shootings.
Van Cleave retorted that Australia “still has murders, rapes and robberies last I checked”, to which Oliver said: “Unless you can get rid of 100 per cent of crime, it’s not worth doing anything at all?”
Van Cleave may want to consider a ban on proverbial shovels after what he says next. Check it out.
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