Australian comedian Jim Jefferies take on gun control goes viral again after Texas school shooting

His stand up set from eight years ago has been blowing up social media as he calls out Americans for their lies about why they need guns.

Australian comedian Jim Jefferies’ stand-up set about the difference between how Australia and America responded to massacre-level gun violence has gone viral again, despite him delivering the routine back in 2014.

It comes after 19 children and two adults were killed when Salvador Ramos, 18, burst into a classroom at Robb Elementary School in Texas and started shooting.

In the set, Mr Jefferies spoke about Australia being rocked by the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. The horrific attack saw 28-year-old, Martin Bryant kill 35 people in a deadly shooting spree.

Australian comedian Jim Jefferies’ stand-up routine about the problem with America’s gun laws has gone viral - despite him delivering the set almost 10 years ago

Less two months after the massacre, the Howard government began implementing tougher restrictions on gun ownership.

The non-binding National Firearms Agreement was adopted on May 10, 1996 between the Commonwealth, as well as all states and territories.

This included a ban on all automatic and semiautomatic weapons, bar a small number of licensed permit holders.

Mr Jefferies said the difference between the two nations’ response to the tragic mass shootings couldn’t be more different.

“In 1996, Australia had the biggest massacre on earth,” he told the crowd.

“Still hasn’t been beaten. Now, after that they banned guns. In the 10 years before Port Arthur, there was 10 massacres. Since the gun ban in 1996, there hasn’t been a single massacre since. I don’t know how or why this happened … maybe it was a coincidence, right?’”

He went on to explain that he understood that the US and Australia had “two vastly different cultures” with different people.

“I get it. In Australia we had the biggest massacre on earth and the Australian government went, ‘That’s it! No more guns!’ And we all went, ‘Yeah, right then, that seems fair enough’,” he said

“Now, in America you have the Sandy Hook massacre, which little, tiny children died and your government went, ‘Maybe we’ll get rid of the big guns? And 50 per cent of you went, “F**k you, don’t take my guns!’”

Crowd at Port Arthur shooting massacre memorial service at Port Arthur.

Makenna Lee Elrod was one of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting. Picture: Facebook

Mr Jefferies said he was all for Americans having their Second Amendment rights, but called out claims the reason they needed guns for protection as “bulls**t arguments and lies”.

“There is one argument and one argument alone for having a gun, and this is the argument … ‘F**k off. I like guns’. It’s not the best argument, but it’s all you’ve got. And there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘I like something. Don’t take it away from me’,” he said.

“But don’t give me this other bulls**t. The main one is, ‘I need it for protection. I need to protect me. I need to protect my family’. Really? Is that why they’re called assault rifles? Is it? I’ve never heard of these “protection rifles” you speak of.

“You have a gun in your house, you’re 80 per cent more likely to use that gun on yourself, than to shoot someone else.”

Comedian Jim Jefferies spoke about his own experience with violence.

The comedian spoke about a break-in at his home that he experienced in England where the offenders came through the window with a machete and hammer and he was tied up and cut, and his girlfriend was also threatened with rape.

“Americans always go, ‘Well, imagine if you had a gun’. And I’m like, ‘All right. I was naked at the time. I wasn’t wearing my holster. I wasn’t staring at the window waiting ... What world do you live in where you’re constantly ready? You have guns ’cause you like guns,” he said.

“That’s why you go to gun conventions! That’s why you read gun magazines! None of you give a s**t about home security. None of you go to home security conventions. None of you read Padlock Monthly.”

A girl visits a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims outside the Uvalde County Courthouse in Texas on May 28, 2022. Picture:: Chandan Khanna / AFP)

He went on to say that most people who break into a house just want to steal your TV, rather than murder your family.

“How many enemies do you have? Jeez, you think a lot of yourself if you think everyone’s coming to murder you,” he said.

“See, if you have it readily available, it becomes unsafe. You have it in your bedside table, one of your kids picks it up, thinks it’s a toy, shoots another one of your kids. Happens every day, but people go, ‘That’d never happen in my house ’cause I’m a responsible gun owner. I keep my guns locked in a safe’.”

Footage of Jefferies’ routine was shared on TikTok this week, where it quickly racked up millions of views.

“It’s going to be relevant in 2023, 2024 and so on... so save the video,” was one of the top-rated comments, with thousands of people agreeing.

“I’m a proud American with children and as proud as I am of my country, I totally agree with this!” added another.

“Australia currently has more guns than it’s ever had. We just took away automatic and semi automatic rifles and it totally solved the problem,” wrote a third.

America’s problem with guns

The Sandy Hook massacre shocked the world, when on December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children between six and seven years old, as well as six adult staff members.

The rampage at the Texas school is the deadliest shooting at an elementary school in the US since Sandy Hook.

Before the Texas rampage, there were 26 school shootings resulting in injury or death in the US in 2022, according to Education Week,

Yet, America’s liberal gun laws – heavily backed by the NRA and many politicians – still remain popular among a large part of the population.

The latest reliable data – figures from Swiss-based research project Small Arms Survey – estimated that there were 390 million guns in circulation in America in 2018.

That means there are more guns than people in the US.

Neil Heslin, father of six-year-old Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Jesse Lewis. Picture: Alex Wong/Getty Images

In 2021, more than 45,000 lives were lost to gun violence in the US, be it through homicide, murder, suicide, accidental or defensive gun use, the Gun Violence Archive reports. In that single year there were 692 injuries and deaths attributed to mass shootings.

– with Jessica Wang