This is actually a separate problem, though it's the same mentality [1] that has produced both.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burrow_(short_story)

That sounds unreasonable, because it is such a rare possibility. If they hold that fear they shouldn’t fly either. After all, there is a chance they could die in a plane crash. They’re probably also a lot more likely to get killed by dangerous Aussie animals by staying there!

Also keep in mind, most gun deaths in America are suicides or accidents. Most of the others are gang violence that almost always targets other criminals. There are very few bystanders deaths or random homicides.

My point being, if you aren’t involved in a life of crime, your odds of being randomly killed by a gun are much smaller than what statistics might suggest.

It's not how rare the possibility is, it's that the possibility only exists because of the people.

I’d like to visit Australia but I’m afraid of getting KO’d by a Kangaroo in boxing gloves.

C’mon, your friends are overreacting.

The US is a strange place for a rich country, though. I've only spent 6 weeks there and I've experienced a direct death threat, an indirect one, and some guy following me into a shop and then pushing me before leaving. That's just the worst of it, but there was lots of low-level "strange behaviour" to add to that from various strangers that Americans presumably don't even notice.

I've told them they're overreacting but with all the shootings in the news it's understandable they feel that way.