Talking Shit with a Yank & a Brit - 4. Wall O' Guns

Episode Date: April 13, 2023

This week we talk shit about gas station sandwiches, reality TV, tubing, our zombie apocalypse plans, and put the world to rights in respect of Guns...Subscribe and rate for more Talking Shit with a Yank & a Brit Chat! ✌️

Bonjour, hola, konnichiwa, welcome to Talking Shit with Yank and Britt. Oh, Hello. Hi, that was perfect. Thanks. Been working on that all week. You just been walking around saying hello in different languages and... Yep, I learnt three languages

and came up with a jingle, so... That's gonna be our new intro from now on, forever. Great. How are you? I'm really good. The sun's come out today for the first time in about four years. So my vitamin D is topped right up. I had a coffee past 11 o'clock. So I'm high on life I am so jealous I could murder you because it is overcast there's like 1,000 feet of snow on the ground it's supposed to be nice today and it's about I'm not going to be able to tell you in Celsius but 38 degrees Fahrenheit here and I am so over this. How long have you had snow now?

Well snow has been on the ground for my entire life it's been 75 long years since I've last seen grass um no but it was starting to melt. And then sometime on like Friday evening, early Saturday morning, we just got shat on with snow. And it was the kind that's wet, heavy, bullshit snow. And I'm pretty sure I aged about five years just trying to shovel yesterday. And it was just a really cruel like April Fool's Day joke from mother nature. It was so bad. So how many inches have you got now? I don't, I'm not quite sure how much actually fell. I want to say a couple, maybe like two or three, but it just seemed like a lot more. And I, we knew it was coming, but I think all of us just

kind of hoped it would just be a little bit of a dusting. And if you look out my window, it looks like a lot more, but that's because there's piles of, you know, what happened yesterday. And then, you know, kind of the residual that hadn't melted yet. And it's just, it feels like this winter's been really brutal. I think, in fact, we probably have had the most snowfall here that we've had in ages oh man we had like a centimeter and that all came in that one day right yeah and the world fell apart in England so I remember seeing on Instagram just from some of the people I follow who are out and seeing, like, it looked like a lot for you guys. I mean, even a lot for here too.

But the fact that your roads kind of aren't really, like, if there's snow on the ground, you can't really drive on them. And then your cars too. I think some of the video I saw, it was even the big cars, Range Rovers and stuff getting stuck. And I just, I felt really bad because I know there are States here that when it snows, like in Texas, if it snows in Texas, everyone loses their minds because they just don't get it very often. But I feel like you guys, you kind of got screwed. Yeah. I don't know what happened.

I mean, I think it was forecast, but for some reason I don't think the gritters had got out in time, so the roads weren't salted. So when it hit, it hit us bad. You guys just kind of were like, that's fake news, we're not doing it.

The thing is, they predict it quite a lot in winter. And it never happens. It's like a regular occurrence. Oh, it's going to snow on Tuesday. And it just never happens. So people don't believe it. And then it did happen. And everyone crashed their cars.

So many people died. So many people died. It was the disaster of Christmas 2023. People started eating each other. Yeah. And the world. Cannibalism went right up. I know Sean used to joke, it would be like slight dusting of snow people just looking out their window being like oh yes we won't be doing anything today to anyone you're not going to get your flight because they're like we don't know what do you want us to do go clear that no yeah we just fall apart which i guess the fact that maybe it kind of shuts things down for you

guys for a little while isn't a big deal, but we have to, we have to figure it out because for six months of the year here, it's could, it can be daily. And so it, we have to live through it. Like I had to go testify in court one day and it was supposed to be really bad. And I was just like, well, I don't really have a choice. I mean, I got a subpoena. I have to go. So I And I was just like, well, I don't really have a choice. I mean, I got a subpoena. I have to go. So I guess I'll just leave three hours early to go 15 minutes.

I've got an idea. How about you move somewhere warmer? Oh, say more about that. I don't know if I know what you mean. America's quite big. Move to like i mean i would say texas but don't move to texas um where else is quite south i mean there's so many other places that i'd rather move that are warmer but they all kind of have their different down downsides like California really expensive and you know lots of fires Florida well Florida's really nice and has beaches but there's also insane people there and giant bugs and hurricanes

so really what we're getting to is that America is just rubbish I'm joking to all the Americans. You're not going to get an argument from me there, but I also realize that that might mean I'm a bad American. Oh, God. Where do you want me to move, Gemma, that you would visit? Okay, where would you like to visit that you haven't been yet? I'll have to get up a map. Google maps. you like to visit that you haven't been yet i'll have to get up a map google maps because you've

been to iowa i've been to iowa dakota been to nebraska minnesota who all the hot spots. I've really been shown the good ones. Sorry, hold on. My internet's being really shit. Okay, I'd like to go to San Diego. San Francisco. I've been to San Diego. It was fun. San Diego it was fun San Diego I believe it translates

from a well's vagina it literally means Saint Diego I know that's where I'm at I mean to be honest I don't really I don't really I don't really know what places are like New Orleans?

I've actually never been I've always wanted to go I think the question is I'm probably too old to go to Mardi Gras because I'm ancient now but I think that would be fun It's like the jazz capital of the world or music place, music-y place. Yeah, I think like Memphis or Nashville probably are like the music ones,

but New Orleans, yeah, jazz and kind of cool southern culture and a little bit of history there. It looks fun. You okay there? Okay. Move there. Got it. Tomorrow. Albuquerque.

I've actually never been to New Mexico, but I do think that would be interesting. I don't know if there is actually anything interesting there, but I would give it a go. I mean, it looks like there's a biopark zoo there, so pretty good. Well, you've been to like the best zoo in the country in Omaha remember oh I didn't go that day you didn't? were you gone by then? no just me and my boyfriend at the time

had an argument he got all stroppy so we didn't go I don't remember that can you tell more about that? I think it was because we'd got spray tans. No, this was after the wedding. Oh, was it? Mm-hmm.

Oh, maybe I was annoyed at him then for throwing up and passing out in the first hour of your wedding party. And throwing up all over the bed that we were both sleeping in. I think that just means it was a really good time, right? Yeah. I forgot about that. Oh, that was fun. That was all due to fireballs. Oh, God.

Oh, God. oh god did I I don't think I brought fireball that one time when I came to visit with Lauren but did you ever try the rum chata that we brought I don't know I'm sure you probably had it

here though it's like kind of cinnamony and milky liqueur Yeah, yeah, yeah I recall that Did you like it? It was quite nice, yeah Yeah, that one's tolerable

Fireball is gross though I like to think my palate has matured a little and now I drink beer Fair I'm mainly wine. Yeah, you're a wine gal. Very classy like that. Oh, but also there's loads of white claw here now

and hard seltzers, so that's my go-to. They're in the UK or in your house right now? Well, they're in the UK. But I remember when we came over, yeah, it was when we came to Minneapolis. And I discovered it there and it was everywhere.

Yes. But we did not have it in England then. And I was really upset because I was drinking the whole week, but I didn't get one hangover. because I was you know drinking the whole week but I didn't get one hangover yeah that is the I think kind of perk of them is that it's water pretty much yeah but I there's so many different kinds White Claw's not even my favorite anymore um I still prefer beer but there's Tapo Chico hard seltzer that's really good as well but I remember that because I think Matthew brought over a bunch and we went to that cabin right even though the weather was horrible and I think and that's where we learned to play dominoes yeah and you forced me to get on that well we are folks

you forced me to get on that ring on the back of the speedboat. Oh, going tubing. That was terrifying. I just remember you sitting next to me going, this is fucking horrible. Get me off. I'm like, you're not having fun right now. This is so fun. You guilt kicked me into that. You were like, it's my birthday.

You have to. Oh, for fuck's sake. I really don't want to. I'm that person. You did it though. I feel like you were maybe the only one, really. I think I was, actually, wasn't I? Because Charlie couldn't because of her foot, right? Hip, I think it was, or back.

Hip, hip, hip, hip. Yeah, yeah, she couldn't. And then I think Keith was a little bit like, no, no thanks. Yeah, everyone else pursued out. I took one for the team. And you survived. I think that's what matters here. I did, yeah. I'm here to tell the tale. I can see why it'd be scary, though, because you go really fast,

and the boat driver is basically just doing everything they can to try to knock you off and kind of hurts when you hit the water and yeah it was cold and rainy which is also not really that great that the weather was so shitty when you guys were here I feel bad it wasn't great was it the main thing for me though is I I've got a thing with um like not knowing what's under the water oh like I don't love the sea and I don't love lakes for that reason because I don't know. And I mean

it's not so bad in England. We don't have crocodiles and fucking alligators and shit and piranhas. I don't know what you have. Probably nothing in Minneapolis but in Minnesota. Only sharks really? Oh. That's fine then.

No. None of them. I think probably the worst thing you could get, and I could be wrong, is like a snapping turtle maybe. Oh, fuck that. Which sucked. Yeah, it would snap. That's what it would. But you're not going to like get eaten by it. No, no. It's just even when like just a little plant like rubs against your ankle yeah yeah yeah i mean i grew up on a lake and it was not

super clear because it was a mud bottom and i struggled with that even too but i suppose in order to enjoy where i lived i had to get over it and get in the water yeah I mean believe it or not we don't really swim in lakes that much here because it's never fucking warm enough you get those two weeks in June when it's real nice and you all basically lay outside naked and don't wear sunscreen. Yep. It's when you get your dose of vitamin D. Exactly. We have to top up when we can.

Speaking of that, I actually just went to the doctor because I think I've said this a few times now. I'm old and I figure that's probably what old people do is like go to the doctor so they can talk about how old they are and like I'm fine but she didn't say I should take some vitamin D supplements so I got this little liquid kind and you have to do droppers of it or it's like a drop but I read it wrong and I assumed I needed to take like the full dropper. Well, I might have OD'd on vitamin D for a couple of days because I was getting like 200,000 units of it. And so after I realized, you know, I will say I did feel pretty good. And I don't know if that's the placebo effect or not, but I had to Google like what happens if you overdose on vitamin D and turns out you can, and turns

out it's kind of hard, but really bad if you do. Oh, really? Like you can like hallucinate. That sounds pretty good. And I mean, it's not the fun way, not the drug tripping way. Yeah. Well, strangely enough, I got um some vitamin d supplements because it's been the grayest six months of my life this year um

yeah i got quite strong ones because i didn't know what to get they had loads in the shop i was like i'll go for the middle ground it's like a thousand i don't know what the unit is. Yeah. You could probably take two a day and be good, I bet. Yeah, I'd just take one. Oh, okay. But I was so shocked at how great I felt after a week of taking them. It was like, yeah. I didn't, you know, I wasn't depressed.

But definitely felt down. And then, yeah. What a change, just having vitamin i know it's crazy because i'm always tired and i think that's because i'm also a woman yeah but it it felt i felt like when i took that excessive amount for those two days that I was like, I like, don't feel fatigued. And like my strength training workout was really good that day. Yeah. Well, I'm on this. Right. So I guess I'll just drink the bottle and see what happens. In a few months in your vitamin D intake. Okay. You have to check in in a few months in your vitamin D intake, okay?

Yeah. Do it. Well, so we're – this is our fourth episode, right? Yep. And we're just crushing it with the reviews that are coming in. Yeah, we are. Gemma's the funny one and I am You keep saying this. Someone. I'm someone.

You are here. I'm here to support the funny one, I guess. Stop putting yourself down. You're very funny. Thanks. I'm just reporting back what the people are telling me. Did hear that apparently we provided some education. Yes, I heard this too. One of our podcasts was educational, which was interesting to hear. Again, not experts in anything. Don't cite us in your research paper. Or say Kate and Gemma said I should take one million units of vitamin D to feel good.

Nope. Nope. Go to your doctor. But I think we're enjoying this and I guess we're going to keep doing it for a little while. Yeah, it's good fun. I'm having a fun time, Catherine. Me too. And you know what would be really fun?

What? Doing this in the same room sometime. Yeah. It might be rubbish. We'll get in the same room and be like, uh. I don't know what to talk about. I just spent the last week and a half with you and I think we've talked about everything already right if when next time you come over or I come over to you we need to just not converse okay for like the first 48 hours or something then we'll turn on the mics and we'll go from there

or we just somehow are always recording ourselves yeah okay and we just have that be an episode. Yeah, we'll hire a team. They'll just follow us around like reality TV. They'll just follow us around, record everything we're saying and cut it all up and make a podcast. Funny you mentioned reality TV because I've been meaning to ask you why are the brits so obsessed with reality tv i don't know i don't know the answer to this um maybe it's because our lives are so boring we have to watch other people. I don't know what it is.

I'm not that into it. However, back in the day, we used to have Big Brother. When that first came out, that was great before it got shit. But yeah, we have. I've never really seen it what's the point of big brother so they basically shove a load of strangers into a house and they can't leave for i don't know how long it was it was like three months or something and there's cameras everywhere which film everything so initially it was a social experiment to see how people would cope in that environment and what they would do um but then gradually it kind of just people that went on it just wanted to get famous

and you know exploited the show and then it was less fun yeah um and now we have things like love island, which is a load of ridiculously hot people that make you feel really awful about yourself going into apparently find love. And they couple up with people of the opposite sex. And actually, funnily enough, i watched this ironically because i was like this sounds like a load of shit it's gonna be terrible why the fuck do people watch this so i was like i'm gonna watch an episode to see what this shit's about and you watch one episode and i don't it's the way they produce it or edit it i don't know but you watch one episode and you're like oh my god i really need to know what like Cassandra's up to next time. Oh my God, I'm into this now.

Yeah, you start off by hate watching and then it turns into an obsession. Exactly, yeah. So the trick is just to never watch it in the first place. So the one thing I've noticed excuse me um like a lot of the content that netflix is producing now that is reality-based tv like too hot to end yeah it's mostly people from the uk there's a couple Americans, maybe, you know, some other countries too, but by and large, there's always a handful of British people and they're kind of always from the same place. And, you know, usually it's like Essex. I don't know, think I did that right. But,

and I just, it just seems like that there, you guys are drawn to that and I don't mean I don't think I would I would be really surprised if you ever went on one of those shows but I would be surprised maybe that was I I wouldn't be angry I guess I would be surprised but I would root for you is that better I just I I'm just it blows my mind sometimes that people put themselves out there like that. But I guess maybe it's to get famous, right? Yeah, I think it's, we're living in a world where, you know, people want to be influencers and content creators. And so they think a way to do that is to go on telly and get a big fan base. And, you know, it does work a lot of the time.

These people go in with, you know, hundreds of followers on Instagram and come out with millions sometimes. Yeah, I suppose it doesn't really require any talent. No, exactly. I will say, though, I will admit that I'm currently addicted to Married at First Sight Australia. Do you have this in the US? I know what Married at First Sight is, but I haven't really watched it, if you want to tell me about it. So the concept is absolutely ridiculous. Okay. It's people getting married. They're complete strangers. And they have experts.

Oh, I think that works well. Yeah. They have experts in inverted commas that audition these people, vet them because they're like psychologists and dating experts and blah, blah, blah. And put these couples together. And the first time they meet is at the aisle and they get married to a complete stranger. And then basically they have a honeymoon. They then move into an apartment together and it's a however long experiment, again, in inverted commas,

to see if they can make it work. And they have like different challenges. and every week they have a commitment ceremony where they all the couple sit down on a couch with the experts and they talk about how their week's been and whether they want to stay or leave but if one person in the couple decides to leave and the other decides to stay they have to stay for another week so even if one person's like hating the other person uh they have to stay um and yeah the uk version's all right but for some reason the australian version is just it's like a lot more drama um and i don't know if it's just funnier because of their accents and it's sunny out there. So it's nicer to watch. But yeah, it's incredibly addictive.

I'm sorry, that just how many end up making it any meaningful amount of time? That seems also very like this is old school kind of arranged marriage sort of situation. old school kind of arranged marriage sort of situation. Yeah, it kind of is. Quite a few make it to the end, really. I've only watched one season. I watched last year's season, and now I've just started the new one. But yeah, some of the people are horrendous.

I feel like that's probably intentional and makes, you know, it's when we talk about reality TV, I think you and I can both agree that, you know, it's edited to fuck. And whether the storylines are real, I feel like I read articles after from people who are on shows that I've watched or it's like, yeah, I wasn't I'm not really like that. Or that was, you know, the way it was edited kind of made it look worse than it was. And of course, you can kind of take it with a grain of salt, I suppose, depending on who that person was on the show. And it's like, yeah, you just don't want to look like an idiot now. But reality is also in inverted commas which are quotes right yes sorry quote box oh well the one that i really really loved in the first time i saw it i think you were there and maybe you can describe it more but i one dating show okay what's it called naked attraction yes oh my i couldn't i still can't get over it to be honest but and this was years ago i was like

what is this that i'm looking at a penis right now it's not even blurred out nope we don't blow our penises here kate yeah we're so prude here uh that was one thing one of my topic ideas was just like your attitudes about nudity and sex and all of that particularly on television but describe the premise of this show i just because i think you can do it better so they have oh it's the weirdest fucking thing so yeah you have your one person comes on and they're looking for a date and i think they have like i don't know five people to choose from um the five people will be behind different colored screens um and they're butt naked and then what they do is they gradually

build the screens or bring the screens up from the foot up, right? Yeah, so basically the first thing you see from them is their legs and their pee-pee or their vajee-jee. And then they have to judge which penis or vagina they like the best and which one they think is disgusting and which one they're going to get rid of. And then the next section is obviously the torso.

And eventually you see their face. Which one are they going to get rid of? And then the next section is obviously the torso. And eventually you see their face. And then the person choosing then goes away and comes back completely naked. So the first time they meet, they're both naked. And, okay, so I've seen a couple of these episodes and it's like, oh, I don't really like the look of that person's genitals. So I'm going to eliminate them. And they haven't even gotten to. But they talk about it in like great detail.

They'll be like, oh, they've got a lot of pubic hair, haven't they oh that one curves too far to the left what do you think of this do you like the size do you like the girth like it's fucking weird did you you might have said it but then they pick the person and then the like the person who picks then comes out naked yeah and so it's like well i'm making it too yeah we're all naked i feel like all the episodes i've seen too they go out on the date and then you know they record that and then they have them kind of come back for the debrief and usually one person's like really pissed and the other person's just like yeah And I'm, you know, kind of over it now. And the other person is never called. Didn't talk to him again.

Yeah. I mean, you've got to be slightly mental to go on a show like that, haven't you? I could never. And it's not like you had said something about Love Island and like really hot, beautiful people. These are just normal average people we're not talking supermodels or fitness like freaks it's just your next door neighbor and their mom oh yeah yeah that was i came home after that trip and found clips on YouTube and showed people because this is just on their TV, guys. know this has been something you and I have discussed kind of on and off since we've known each other um but I want to know your thoughts about our gun laws and like the attitudes about

guns in America because it's entirely different in England well the UK, I think, but England specifically, right? Yeah. Do you want me to be completely honest? No, I was actually thinking maybe you could lie. Yes, lay it on me. Give me your worst. I think it's quite baffling to British people, European people, because we just don't have guns here. Well, I mean, we do. There's obviously probably a few select people that have guns that are like involved in organized crime

or the odd farmer that has one to protect their livestock or intruders um but no we don't have guns here you cannot go and buy a gun unless you have a very fucking good reason to. Well, and even your general police force aren't armed. No, our normal police force aren't armed. They have a baton and a taser. A baton is a lovely stick, which they use to hit people. But no, we do have armed forces.

um but no we we don't have we do have armed forces um but they're like your special your special call them in when you really need it type of yeah exactly um so i found it well one i find it horrendous listening to the amount of mass shootings and school shootings you guys have um and it it was a real culture shock coming to america and going into like a superstore and seeing a section you know like you have a clothing section, you have a food section, and then you have a fucking gun section. And not just a little section, it was like a wall of guns. And not just handguns. Yeah, I think it believe it. It fires everybody. It's crazy. Were you worried at all when you were here the few times?

Like, is someone here with a gun? Am I going to get shot? Was that a fear of yours? Yeah, I think it was in the back of my mind. I don't think I was, you know, I wasn't overly worried about it, but I was definitely aware that people have guns. to Sioux City and we were in a taxi um with the taxi driver we were talking about guns with him and he said you know just well I said first of all that you know we don't have guns in the UK so it's really it's a really weird concept for us and he was like oh my god how do you feel safe at night and I said well we we don't have guns so I don't need a gun to protect myself because no one else

has a gun and he was like oh my god I've never thought of it that way and I just thought what like are you fucking for real like I can't I yeah it's mad to me yeah I it it does seem to be kind of a a self-defeating cycle of there's all this gun crime and gun violence and shooting deaths and so people are like i've got to get a gun to protect myself and i think also it's the people who probably don't really have a reason to need to protect themselves i'm thinking of like my mom they felt like they needed to get some guns and i'm not sure why considering where they live where they go like gun crime is prevalence everywhere don't get me wrong but it's just you know we people for a long time particularly after george flo Floyd was murdered in COVID, we saw some increase

in shootings here in the cities. And everyone was, you know, like, how can you live there? Like, aren't you afraid all the time? Well, no, I'm not actually. Because, again, like I've never had, I've never been in a scenario where that happened to me, you know, and luckily that's the case because I realized it could happen. But I also don't feel like I need to get something to protect my home. I guess it's just never really felt like a need, but I know people feel that way. And then it kind of turns into people who aren't trained and like really maybe living in fear so much that they end up shooting someone kind of accidentally. Or we hear about children shooting children because, and I'm not talking about in the context of school shootings, but like just not keeping guns locked up and not ensuring that their kids are educated in gun safety.

I don't know much about this, but I think I saw somewhere that there was maybe a toddler accidentally shot their infant sibling because the gun was just out and so i agree with you i'm i'm i think i'm not in the majority i guess i don't really know what the majority opinion is here but i do feel like i'm of the perspective that we need far better uh gun control and far better kind of parameters around getting guns. And I think that we probably should be more like how other countries are with firearms because we, you know, we just had another horrible school shooting and I saw a list and it was it's just like it's daily. It's it's what I don't understand is that how can one how can parents feel safe sending their kids to school with that as a threat? And to how was it not seriously looked into and seriously amended as soon as the first school shooting happened like that's what i can't get my head around like it's i sent you that you know that

reel the other day talking about getting bulletproof whiteboards it's like that's not the solution to the problem guys the problem is the fact that you have such availability to guns yeah but it seems to be as well that it's for gun loving americans it they see it as their right because it's you know in the second amendment and they won't have their mind changed on that there yes you're there is the I think the response to people who say look at all these thousands of reasons and these thousands of deaths that are reasons for better you know gun control um the response is it's my right as an American it's in this constitution look it up and I am not a constitutional scholar or an expert in constitutional law, but I did study it in law school. And I got like the highest grade in my class, just saying.

And I do find it interesting. And the thing I find it find interesting about it is there's these kind of two different maybe there might be more, but there's the two main theories about like interpreting the Constitution. There's the strict constructionists, which are we need to interpret this exactly as the framers of the Constitution intended, which that was by a bunch of white dudes hundreds and hundreds of years ago before we had any of the advances that we have now. And then there's the more modern perspective that the Constitution is actually a fluid document that can be interpreted as society changes. And I guess to the extent that I think the Constitution is important, I fall into the latter category where there's no way that the people who wrote the Constitution could have meant for it to last into this day and age without some adaptation, right? And the other thing that's interesting about the Second Amendment in particular is that,

you know, it does say, I'm going to look it up just so I get it right. You know, part of it says the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. But there's a whole, like, sentence or part of a sentence before that, which is a well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Now, there's a whole lot in that one sentence, including some weird comma splices that I think are important to this debate about the Second Amendment. It's like this comma here signifies this meaning. And it's weird that it's coming down to a comma, but I'm inclined to agree that that amendment was created as a result of, you know, when we were smaller and we needed militia, we needed citizen soldiers. We had to defend ourselves from

you guys, by the way, that was you and your fault, Gemma, your country. And then, you know, the revolutionary war and the civil war. And it really was referencing the need to defend ourselves from, you know, tyranny, revolt, like that kind of thing. And then also I think there's maybe an argument about farmers and hunting and stuff, which fine. But there's not a single word about a person's right to a gun for self-defense or recreational use in the notes from the Constitutional Convention. And I was reading an article earlier, and it really kind of how it is now comes from the National Rifle Association lobbying

to really skew the meaning and kind of the intention behind what we see for gun rights right now. And it's just so frustrating because I think most of the Americans who point to the Second Amendment as a reason why they're entitled to their guns don't really know anything about any of that. No. And, you know, it was written when people had like muskets.

It wasn't automatic rifles and AK-47s and shit like that like it's move with the times guys come on yep i that's i know it probably sounds maybe maybe boring to you jemma and maybe even the people who are listening to this episode are like, oh, God, this sucks. But it's a big deal here considering what we're seeing in society, the school shootings, the mass shootings. Just there was a, I don't remember if this was on TikTok or whatever, but just a dude, full fatigues, assault rifle on his back, just walking through like Costco. And he could do that. But everyone's kind of like, are we about to get shot up here? What's happening? And I don't think, I mean, I probably am of the more extreme opinion about where gun control laws need to go but i think the basics you know

stricter background checks uh limiting it to not you know assault rifles that can fire around upon round within you know a second um why is that needed in the public like it's not military grade weapons I don't think are needed to defend your household no whatsoever or go hunting but sure I guess blow up that deer if that yeah that feels you'll get some good meat that way yeah it's it's a challenge and I think going back to what we said in our last episode, or episode two, I think, where I talked about being frustrated with society and needing to stop watching the news. It's because, you know, after, you know, we see a big shooting, there was that one in Aurora, Colorado, in the movie theater. Do you remember that?

Yeah. That's what I was going to ask because i couldn't sit in a movie theater for a long time without like being really anxious and looking at the door and worrying about it and is it not exhausting just hearing about it all the time uh i'm almost like a little desensitized to it too now you know what i mean like oh like this most recent one in was it nashville at the elementary school like my reaction was oh another school shooting god oh look little kids died like wow and that sounds really bad but it's it's kind of the reality it's just like oh yeah another one i wonder i wonder when the next one will be probably tomorrow and with that one in particular it's like the response was oh you know trans people are killing kids or you know oh we gotta we gotta do something

about basically like you said earlier just totally missing the point and saying we gotta arm teachers yes it's just crazy like we had one school shooting in 1996 um i don't know if i heard about that and at the time members of the public could own sporting rifles and shotguns subject to licensing um and handguns but the Dunblane school massacre there was basically a you know stricter control measures put in force there was pretty much like a gun amnesty people handed in their guns willingly because they didn't want that to happen again and now you're only permitted to have handguns with good reason so for example if you work in like humane animal dispatch or you're only permitted to have handguns with good reason.

So, for example, if you work in, like, humane animal dispatch or you're a trained armed police officer. But other than that, it's... Or, yeah, you can have, like, a rifle if you're a farmer or a hunter. Don't you guys have restrictions, too on like antiques yeah like if you're a collector of antiques and you want to have a really probably not even workable firearm but it's you know really old like you have to I feel like I heard I don't remember if Sean was telling me about this but you have to like get approved and you can't have or you only can have the gun or the gun powder or something like that yeah yeah because my granddad had a really old antique gun and that was the first time I'd ever seen or touched a gun in real life but it was you know it's wood it's wooden

it didn't yeah it didn't have any bullets or gunpowder or it was just you know it's an ornament probably do more damage just hitting someone with it yeah most likely um my grandfather had a gun my grandfather was also a police officer though um and he had a gun. My grandfather was also a police officer, though. And he had a gun, and I never saw it, but you mentioning that just made me think, and this is kind of scary. After he passed away and we were kind of clearing some stuff out of the home, his gun was missing. Oh, really? And we're like, where's Grandpa's gun? And we had no idea. So someone took it and just, just like a gun out somewhere now.

Probably got pawned. We have an idea of who took it. Oh, my God. We're just like, oh, gun's just missing. No biggie. Brilliant. In the hands of a stranger. Fantastic.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a heavy subject. It is. Yeah. It's a heavy subject, but it's... Yeah. It needs to be sorted. Or you guys can just keep, you know, shooting each other and... I guess there is a population problem, so...

Kind of takes care of that. It's, yeah, you're right, actually. Now that that you said that that turned me around pro guns here um it is crazy though because every you know we'll hear about you know that the thing that happened in france and like i don't know when was that 2014 and you know i know there's been some kind of terrorist attacks in the uk too um or that one that happened in new zealand and i think kind of like what you're talking about with the school shooting in 96 is they after that i think it, right? Yeah. The guy who had the manifesto, like they immediately implemented laws that limited firearms and background checks and all of that. And it's just like, why, why are we so different than, and I can't understand it, but it's, you know,

anytime I come to visit or travel, you know, anywhere in Europe, I have my family saying, oh, be careful, like, be safe out there. And I'm like, like, what do you mean? by a gun outside of this country is so small whereas I I bet we could look up the odds on the internet of like the likelihood of dying you know by being by a shooting here is probably huge yeah actually let me get up this thing I was reading earlier well here's one um did you see that after the Nashville shooting Fox News was setting up their live coverage of it and this woman came up and kind of hijacked it saying aren't you guys tired of covering this I really I know you don't watch the news but yeah she just came in and she's she's like aren't you tired of covering this and just totally hijacked it and And I don't know if you know this, but Fox News is kind of the really conservative news network. And gun rights is a big conservative talking point

too. It's very much associated with conservatism and republicanism. And it was just, she totally hijacked it. And because it was live i think they could do nothing about it it was kind of brilliant but sadly you know it's just thoughts and prayers no matter what yeah here's a reddit post pro-gun americans what's the reasoning behind bringing your gun for errands uh by and large these these first comments are, things can escalate quickly, best to get ahead of the curve. Because if the situation ever presents itself, it's better to have it and not need it. But I just don't, I don't, I mean, I don't trust the police to, you know, prevent it either. Like people have this whole theory, and this is a whole other topic yeah um you know the police aren't preventing mass shootings either at best

they're maybe responding to it but we could talk about the one in texas that the police you know waited an hour and a half before they did anything about it the fuck was that and i i don't know i my theory is partially due to you know racism and police officers not being equipped or able to recognize that what their roles and responsibilities are and that they are you know their their job is inherently dangerous and so that they need to accept that and they can't just go around because someone flinches. They get to be scared and shoot them and that's justified. But again, different topic for a different day. And so I don't know. I just, I think there's probably been a handful of instances where probably just a private citizen due to being someone who carried a gun I think it was maybe that nightclub attack

they they were able to use their skills but they were they were people who were very educated and trained in using firearms and it it's not just like my next door neighbor who, and I'm not saying my neighbor actually has a gun, but just like, oh yeah, I'm going to trust my neighbor. If anything goes down, they're going to be able to use that for me, you know? Yeah, that's crazy. I mean, I was, I think I was more scared or worried about like the police when we came over, mainly because of like how, well, how they portrayed in the media over here. Um, and because Sean had said like, even as you know, a white male getting pulled over by the police in America is fucking terrifying. And a completely different experience to how it is in the UK.

So that sort of was definitely on my mind. Well, and I remember when Sean got pulled over. And I don't know how many times I've had to tell him that as a white male, he has less to fear from the police. But I do know, just I think coming from a country where the police aren't armed and how they approach people, because I think in that instance, when he was pulled over, the police like approached the car with his hand on his gun because that's i believe part of their training but how it's but it's even like probably scary that would be yeah yeah and how you guys like have to have to keep your hands on the wheel and then like they ask you to show like your license and stuff like it's it's so much more chilled in the uk like you just sort of get out the car and have a chat with them

and then they might ask to see your license run a check if you smell like weed they'll search your give you a caution and that's it like it's yeah there's there's no i've never been scared being pulled over by the police here it's just more of a bit like oh my god the police i hope i don't get you know a ticket. I've never been concerned about it. In fact, one time we got pulled over and it was because they were doing some sort of like operation. I'm not sure if this was true, but something about seatbelts. And I was like, this is you guys are wasting your money on this. But they didn't think I had my seatbelt on.

I wasn't driving. I did. But they didn't think I had my seatbelt on. I wasn't driving. I did. So whether or not they just were pulling people over and that was a pretext for pulling people over or if it just because the seatbelt blended into whatever I was wearing. But the woman asked me for my driver's license even though I wasn't driving. And I didn't have it on me because I wasn't driving.

And she initially kind of gave me some shit about not having it. And I was like, well, it's not a legal requirement for me to carry that wherever I go. But anyway, I had lunged for my gym bag and was digging through it frantically. And afterwards, I was like, oh, my God. Like any person of color could have done that that would have possibly gotten shot for that but i could like literally frantically reach for my bag and dig through it frantically and it wouldn't even like i wouldn't even think twice about that you know and that's white privilege folks i mean this statistic says that oh yeah go ahead that's what i was looking up mass shootings kill less than a hundred people in the u.s per year which is hard to believe but overall gun deaths kill 30 000 to

40 000 people in the u.s per year yeah wow yeah i don't know if that's is that on reddit you said yeah but it links to the statistics and the USAFacts site. Does it say when it was updated? There's basically a trend, so it was around 30K in 2000. um 2015 you're looking at 35 000 and 2020 it's like 45 000 according to this article according to this article from abc news so far in 2023, 9,870 people have died from gun violence in the U.S. as of March 27th, and that is an average of more than 114 deaths a day. Some of those are death by suicide, but of those

who died from gun violence this year, 338 were teens and 60 were children. Fucking hell. There have been 129 mass shootings in 2023 so far. And, you know, it's just now April. There have been at least 13 K-12 school shootings so far this year. Oh my God. There was three shootings in California in a matter of days in January.

So yeah, I know I don't have to convince you, but it's safe to say it's excessive and a giant issue. So what do you think we need to do to fix it, Gemma? Stricter gun laws. Ban the use of any guns unless you have a valid reason, such as being a hunter and not just someone that wants to go and shoot rabbits but someone who

lives out in the wild and shoots elk and deer and things like that stronger background checks amend the constitution you know, stronger background checks. I'm in the constitution. But the problem is, I can imagine there'd be uproar if serious changes were put in place. And I mean, don't get me wrong,

you guys would probably do the best if there was like a zombie apocalypse because we don't have access to guns so you coming over here if that happens no fucking way yeah I just feel like I just need to die that's fine I don't need to live through this how long do you think you'd last uh like so here i've thought about this a lot sadly i just don't think i would want to try to survive because that just the idea of having to like live through that you know we see all those like post-apocalyptic TV shows and I'm just like, I just don't, like, I don't want to have to experience that. Just turn off the energy for it. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if my vitamin D supplements really could get me through that. So I, uh, I'm not sure. I think,

you know, if I were to try to survive, I'm not sure. I don't think I'm probably a very good shot. I'm not very fast. I don't have anything of value to contribute to a post-apocalyptic society. So probably not long. How about you? I'd like to think I would do my best. I have a plan to go down to the coast and commandeer a boat,

get off the land and either find an island or stay on the boat as long as I could, I guess, but it probably wouldn't last long. I'd give myself like a month probably before I just go, I can't take it anymore. I've got no tea bags. Use all your tea. You're lonely. We can't podcast when you're on a boat. Exactly.

But a month's pretty good. It depends on the zombies, how fast they run, how quickly it takes up. There's a lot to take into account. Really, there is, yeah. Well, you know, thanks for letting me vent on that topic. I hope you aren't scared to come over again, though.

No. It's just something you have to deal with, I guess, when you go to America. What's it like in Canada? Do you know? I don't know. We'll have to do some research on that. I suspect it's probably different. I don't think we hear. I mean, we don't hear about shooting deaths to the extent we do for the US, you know.

I don't think I've ever heard about know so it's got to be a little bit different yeah yeah crazy well on a different note I have a question for you okay and then we can wrap up because we did eat up a lot of time with that it's something I've been asking wanting to ask for a long time and I hope you don't think I'm weird or think less of me I do but oh okay perfect that wasn't my question but that's all I needed to know um why are your gas station sandwiches so good good yeah all the sandwiches you can get from like the petrol stations like because marks and spencers or whatever you know what i'm talking about right yeah okay yeah i know i used a lot of words that you're not familiar with just now but you know what i'm talking about right

because you can get them in the grocery stores too but yeah sorry i need to clear my throat i've got a frog in my throat um yeah for some reason we have a load of petrol or gas stations as you guys call it that are like bought out and franchised by our supermarkets so we'll have like m&s which is a you know top class supermarket weight transfer things i mean i will say there's there's there's some petrol stations with fucking horrible sandwiches in so that's why my initial thought was like what but i see what you mean because yeah because we get franchised by the big supermarkets they make nice sandwiches and they're so good what's your favorite like the egg and cress egg and cress i love it

you heard it here first i like to eat egg salad from gas stations in England. Gross. Okay. What ones do you eat then? Probably like bacon and mayonnaise. I'd probably go for a chicken salad sandwich. Yeah. Cornish and chicken. Yeah, it depends.

I don't like it when they have raisins in. Yeah, I've had raisins. I'm with you there. Why are you putting fruit in my fucking chicken sandwich? Doesn't make sense, y'all. All right, well, I thank you for answering that because I just... You come here and you go to a gas station, just like a regular one that's not particularly good or bad. If you get a sandwich from there, you might die. Really? I will keep that in mind. a gas station just like a regular one that's not particularly good or bad if you're gonna if you get a sandwich from there you might die i will keep that in mind like i'm thinking of these

burgers that are wrapped in like they're plastic sealed and they're like gray who's eating who who is eating these that they still are stocking them in gas stations? I do not understand. Yum. To be fair, we do have that. There's one up the road from me that does the gray burgers. Gross. Okay, I'm glad that's universal. Yeah, they used to be pretty bad, but they've got much better now.

At service stations and things, yeah. at service stations and things yeah well i think that is the most important question of the day that i had for you so yeah and it's really good to know as well like when you come over next time i'm gonna i'm gonna stock up on sandwiches for you yay i'm not gonna cook you dinner i'm just gonna get in some egg and cress soggy sandwiches you can also just get the ones that are super marked down because it's the end of the day like 50p noted i'll eat those you can tell me about your weird food loves that you discovered while you were here yeah next time if you want or now i don't care well we'll save that for next time sounds good all right thanks for talking shit with me today oh i've enjoyed it immensely well it's been quite hard hitting but I think we put the world put the world to rights

is that the right saying? I like it, perfect that'll do that'll do Peg that'll do that'll do Peg that'll do right well

have a lovely rest of your day you too see you next week yeah see you next week how back all right okay bye We'll see you next time.