The opponents of our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms often bring up Australia as a role model for banning guns. They propose that America should follow Australia’s footsteps in taking away firearms from its citizens.
First, I want to say: America is not Australia, and Australia is not America. Both are very different countries, in different parts of the world, with very different history, very different economy, and even different structure of government. Therefore, saying that a law or policy must be implemented in America just because Australia did it, or vice versa, is ridiculous. The people of Australia will look at their own national priorities and interests, address their challenges, and live the way they want to live, and run their country the way they want to run it. We, the Americans, will always put America first, and we will look at our priorities, and do what we need to do to enhance the economic and national security of America.
And, for those who still want to ban guns in America just because Australia did it, here’s some numbers that will show the differences between the two counties based on another very important topic – immigration and citizenship.
According to the Department of Parliamentary Services of the Parliament of Australia, permanent migrants enter Australia via one of two programs – migration program and humanitarian program. In 2015-16, the number of visas granted for permanent migration to Australia was 207,325. Since 2005-06, the number has ranged from a little over 150,000 to nearly 210,000.
In comparison, according to the United States Department of Homeland Security, 1,183,505 individuals received their lawful permanent resident status in America in 2016. Since 2005, the number of lawful permanent resident status recipients have been around 1 million every year. On top of that, during the 2005-2016 period, the number of refugee arrivals in America has ranged from around 40,000 to 84,989 per year. Clearly, the United States is allowing far more people to get permanent residency, compared to Australia. America is a global leader in welcoming immigrants.
Now let’s talk about citizenship. According to Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, a total of 133,126 people became Australian citizens by conferral in 2015-16. In comparison, the United States granted citizenship via naturalization to 753,060 individuals in 2016. Therefore, it is obvious that America is allowing far more people to become citizens, compared to Australia. This further reinforces the fact that America is welcoming tremendous numbers of people from all over the world and also granting them the highest honor of citizenship. We are the most welcoming country in the world.
And that’s not all the data there is, because I haven’t talked yet about nonimmigrant entry, and more.
If America wanted to be on the same page as Australia, or some other countries, in crafting its immigration policy, then we would be greatly REDUCING the number of people allowed to come in through our legal immigration channel, and we probably would not be granting citizenship to hundreds of thousands of individuals.
I’m not saying one country is right and the other country is wrong. What I am saying is this: let each country figure out what it needs to do. Like I said, different countries, different laws and policies, different priorities, etc. Let us not try to force a law or course of action on America just because the same or a similar law or policy was implemented in some other part of the world. Let’s make sure that we are upholding the Constitution of our country, ensuring that the rights of the Americans are protected, and let’s get together and try to come up with lawful and realistic solutions to the problems we face.
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