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Opinion I Politics
I'm Australian, and I Have Some Opinions About America's Unceasing Gun Crisis
An impassioned plea to my second home
This is going to be one of the hardest articles I've ever written.
This might surprise you, but you don't have to be American to care about kids dying helplessly in schools.
No matter how objective we try to be, writing about the murder of innocent children isn't easy to do — but it must be done. America, you have a problem. Everyone else can see it, a small minority of you and your politicians. I can't help but wonder if they're blind or selfish.
I'm an Australian and grew up without guns. I didn't see a real gun until I was in my thirties — and that was in Texas. So they have never been a part of my life…until now.
My wife is from Texas, and we plan to spend our time evenly between Texas and Australia when our kid heads to college.
Every time there is a mass shooting in the United States, my phone lights up with frustrated people wondering why I'd ever move to your country. They want me to visit them in Australia instead of vice versa. Like me, they see the carnage that should've been addressed long ago.