A former top Australian politician is pushing the continent’s government to enact a travel warning for America. Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer told Australia’s ABC News the U.S isn’t safe because of, you guessed it, guns! Via The Sydney Morning Herald:

“Three hundred and fifty two mass shootings in the USA so far this year but about 80 a day you don’t hear about,” Mr Fischer told ABC News on Thursday.

“All [are] unacceptable because the US is not stepping up on the public policy reform front. But have we not reached the stage where the Smart Traveller advice of [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] needs to be muscled up?”

This isn’t the first time Fischer has called for some sort of Australian boycott of the U.S. He famously told Australians to stop going to America in 2013 after the murder of baseball player Christopher Lane. But there are more than a few problems with this line of thinking, specifically the stats Fischer has cited on guns. I’ve already written why the Left’s “fancy stats” on “mass shootings” don’t work because of how vague the definitions are. Fischer is falling into the same trap the media willfully did by pushing narrative which just isn’t true because it depends on the definition of “mass shooting.” The Congressional Research Office released a more thorough study on what’s considered a mass shooting in July. This shows things aren’t as “Red Alert!” as the Left wants it to be.

It should be noted the CRO’s research revealed the yearly average of four “public mass shootings” hasn’t changed since the 1990s, while the 80’s had an average of three per year. This isn’t saying things are all hunky dory because it’s awful when any murder or assault happens. But this does show the claims of “more mass shootings than days” just isn’t true. It would be nice if all crime could be eliminated, but that probably won’t happen until the human race is down to just one person per continent or whenever Cthulhu comes back to destroy everything. And no, I’m not suggesting anyone should want either of those.

Fischer also criticized the Australian government for not being more inflexible with America, specifically when it comes to letting Americans into Australia. Again, The Sydney Morning Herald:

Mr Fischer said Australia’s alliance with the US has been “too much one way” and suggested Australia start preventing delegates from attending conferences there, as well as a “streamlining” of the annual ‘G’day LA’ event.

“I’m a bit sick and tired of the US chucking handballs at us, putting into their travel advice that it’s not safe to go to Sydney [after the Paris massacre]”, Fischer said.

The current advice of DFAT’s Smart Traveller website for the US warns the country has a “generally higher incidence of violent crime, including incidences where a firearm (gun) is involved”.

This is a misnomer on Fischer’s part because the U.S. isn’t purposefully targeting Australia with its recent travel warning. The State Department issued the warning for Americans traveling worldwide, which means they need to be on alert whether they’re going to Australia, Japan, Canada, or Greenland. It really seems petty for Fischer to sit there and say, “Well we’ve got to do it too,” if the alert is just telling Americans to be cautious. It’s not a ban on travel, it’s just a warning. For Fischer to suggest otherwise is ludicrous and just shows how petty he’s being. It really seems ridiculous for this to even be floated by a former deputy prime minister, especially one who was once involved in a slightly more free market school of thinking.

It may seem odd to compare Fischer’s comments on guns with his comments on boycotts, but they end up being connected because of global trade. The fact is no one is forcing anyone to come visit the U.S. if they live in Australia. If Australians decide they don’t want any interaction with Americans, that’s their choice. The same goes with Americans. If they don’t want to interact with Australians, they don’t have to. The question is whether this is a good idea. It would actually be more beneficial for Americans and Australians to interact, if it’s from a free market standpoint. This means Australian businesses and American businesses should be able to work together if they want to. It’s short-sighted for Fischer to suggest a boycott because it could deny the ability for Australians and Americans to share ideas on business, even if the Internet makes things even easier. All Fischer is doing is looking to punish America for believing it’s okay to own guns. That’s his choice and his opinion. It’s just unfortunate the information he’s using is wrong. This is why it’s important for the Right to push back when false “fancy stats” are put out. It might convince everyone, like Fischer, but it’s still good for the information to be out there. If not, then all the Right is doing is rolling over.