Australian-Born White Sox Closer Liam Hendriks Rips U.S. Gun Laws: ‘It’s Baffling to Me’

The 4th of July shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, which left 6 dead and many more injured, is just the latest mass shooting the United States has experienced over the past several months. 

The rash of deadly shootings has caused an increase in calls for tighter gun control measures, with multiple sports figures voicing their opinions over the past several months. 

On Monday, Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks was asked for his thoughts on the shooting, as well as the “American gun culture,” and the Australian urged that “something needs to be done.” 

“I think the access to the weaponry that is being used in these things – something needs to change,” Hendriks said. “Something needs to be done. Something needs to happen because there’s way too many people losing their lives.” 

“I don’t think enough is being done," Hendriks continued. "And I think there’s two sides, and the two sides need to meet somewhere in the middle and figure this out because too many people are dying. And it’s no excuse to be like ‘I’m on this side or that side.’ That’s no excuse. At some point, things need to get done. Or, it’s getting to the point where civilization as you know it may be ending just due to the fact that there’s two drastically different sides. Something needs to change, something needs to happen, and it needs to happen quick.” 

Hendriks, who was born in Perth, Australia, told reporters that American gun control laws "baffles" him as an Australian. 

“It’s baffling to me. Obviously, coming over, that’s what America’s known for,” Hendriks said on Monday. 

“I can walk into a store as a non-American and buy a handgun – in certain states – and that baffles me,” Hendriks continued. “I had to take a driving test when I was over here. I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot. There’s a lot of that goes on. As an Australian, we dealt with it as a country back in the day when we had a mass shooting."

 

In 1996, the Australian government implemented a nationwide gun buyback program, which saw over 640,000 guns turned in to the government. 

"When that mass shooting happened, the government came in and said ‘we can’t do this, we’re gonna do a buy-back program and we’re gonna buy back the guns for a fair price’ and do all this. And all of a sudden, suicide rates dropped drastically, our gun-related homicides dropped infinitely and it’s something that has pretty much kept on. You can get access to guns in Australia … but there’s a lot more stipulations on it and protection isn’t a good enough reason to get a gun."

The suspected shooter was arrested hours after the Highland Park parade tragedy.