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Golf legend Phil Mickelson has weighed in on the recent shooting at Bondi Beach, Australia on the first day of Ha, which killed two students and left several injured.
Mickelson responded in a post on X to a video of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling for stricter gun laws in the wake of the shooting, pushing back on the message.
“The 2 terrorists didn’t seem to be affected by the strict gun laws already in place. In fact, the shooting continued for a long time as there was no one else with a gun to stop them. I’m not a big gun guy, but even I’m not that stupid to believe what this guy is selling,” Mickelson wrote. “Prayers to the victims and their families.”
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Phil Mickelson considers a question during a press conference Monday, June 13, 2022, at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Australia has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world, primarily established by the 1996 National Firearms Agreement (NFA).
The NFA banned most semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, which were bought back and destroyed in a government-sponsored program. Firearms are categorized, with military weapons heavily restricted or prohibited. Meanwhile, getting a gun in the country requires safety training, written tests and background checks that cover criminal and mental health history.
Mickelson later responded to an X user who shared a statistic that Australia experiences zero-to-one mass shootings per year, amid the country’s gun laws.
“This is a big point,” Mickelson wrote. “I’m always open to new ideas and facts. I’m not always right and I’m always open to new perspectives. However, I don’t know how you implement that in the United States given our constitution.”
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Mickelson also spoke about the recent mass shooting at Brown University that claimed the lives of two students and re-shared an FBI wanted poster of the suspect.
“Let’s find this guy,” Mickelson wrote.
Australian authorities have identified the shooters in the Bondi Beach shooting as a 50-year-old father and a 24-year-old son. The father was killed at the scene, while the son was shot by police and taken to hospital in critical condition. Australian authorities also said the shooters had improvised explosive devices and homemade ISIS flags in their vehicle.
On Sunday, the pair opened fire on families celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and leaving more than two dozen injured. The Australian government is investigating the incident as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community.
During the deadly rampage, another bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, an Australian immigrant, wrested a gun away from one of the shooters. His lawyer said Ahmed does not regret intervening, despite being “riddled with bullets” and in intense pain.
Bystanders were seen on video confronting a gunman before his ISIS-inspired deadly mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, could begin.
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Despite their efforts to disarm him, the gunman eventually overpowered the two bystanders and killed them, according to authorities.
The bystanders were later identified as Boris and Sofia Gurman, according to Sydney Morning Herald. The business reported that the foodies were walking by when they saw the assailant get out of a vehicle. Although Boris had taken over moments after collecting the shooter’s rifle, the attacker reportedly grabbed a second rifle during the confrontation and fatally shot the couple, making them the first victims of the massacre.
