Rennae Stubbs Goes Nuclear on Gun Advocates Following Bondi Beach Tragedy
It takes a special kind of internet troll to look at a horrific tragedy and think, “You know what this situation needs? A little bit of ‘I told you so’ about gun control.” But welcome to the internet in 2025, where bad takes are as common as microtransactions in a free-to-play shooter. Following the devastating events at Bondi Beach, former tennis pro Rennae Stubbs wasn’t in the mood for any of it, absolutely incinerating a critic who tried to use the massacre to score political points against Australia’s gun laws.
If you’ve been living under a rock—or just wisely avoiding the doom-scroll—here is the grim context. Sydney was rocked by its worst mass shooting in decades when a father-son duo, identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram, opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration. The attack left 15 people dead and a nation in mourning. It’s the kind of nightmare scenario that leaves you feeling hollowed out, angry, and desperate for answers. But for some keyboard warriors, it was apparently just an opportunity to dunk on Australia’s strict firearm regulations.
Stubbs Delivers a Forehand Smash to Online Trolls
Enter user @drewroffjr on Threads, who decided to ask the room, “Hey Australia, how is gun confiscation and not having the right to defend yourselves working out?”
Read the room, Drew. Seriously. Rennae Stubbs, never one to mince words (and we love her for it), spotted the comment and unleashed a verbal volley that would make Serena Williams proud. She didn’t just disagree; she dismantled the premise entirely.
“Shut up you f****n prick!” Stubbs fired back. And honestly? That’s probably the most restrained reaction a sane person could have to such a callous remark. But she didn’t stop at the insults. Stubbs dropped a hard truth bomb that likely resonated with anyone familiar with the statistical realities of gun violence in the United States versus the rest of the world.
“If this was in America it would have been a semi-automatic that would have killed 100! Piss off with your stupid comments about a great country,” she wrote.
The Grim Reality of the “What If” Scenario
It’s a dark thing to contemplate, but Stubbs has a point that cuts through the noise. The tragedy at Bondi is horrific—15 lives lost is 15 too many. But the tennis legend’s comparison forces a brutal look at the weaponry involved. In the US, where access to high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles is disturbingly easy, mass casualty events often see death tolls that stagger the imagination.
Stubbs is essentially highlighting the difference between a tragedy and a complete annihilation. By calling out the hypothetical body count of “100,” she’s underscoring a terrifying reality: as bad as things get elsewhere, the American model of firearm accessibility often acts as a force multiplier for carnage. It’s a sarcastic, angry, and deeply human response to a troll who tried to treat a massacre like a debating point for the Second Amendment.
Rejecting Hate and Embracing Nuance
But Stubbs wasn’t just on the warpath against gun nuts. She also took time to address the other ugly side of the internet: the immediate descent into bigotry.
With news emerging that the shooters were motivated by ISIS ideology, the predictable wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric began to crest online. Stubbs, however, wasn’t having any of that either. She amplified the story of the event’s heroes—specifically noting that one of the brave bystanders who intervened to stop the shooter was Muslim.
“Stop the f***in hate! Period!” Stubbs posted, championing a video of an Australian woman shutting down antisemitic claims on live TV. It’s a refreshing take in a landscape that usually devolves into tribalism within minutes of breaking news. Stubbs reminded her followers that hate is hate, whether it’s targeting Jews or Muslims, and that blaming an entire community for the actions of two radicalized individuals is not just wrong—it’s lazy.
Why We Need Voices Like Stubbs
Look, athletes getting political isn’t new. But there is something raw and necessary about the way Stubbs handled this. She didn’t filter her anger through a PR team. She didn’t issue a sterile “thoughts and prayers” PDF statement. She got on Threads, saw someone being awful, and told them exactly where to go.
In a world of curated personas and brand-safe commentary, watching Stubbs defend her country and call for nuance amidst chaos is genuinely compelling. She captured the anger we all feel when tragedies are politicized before the bodies are even cold.
The Bondi Beach shooting is a scar that won’t fade anytime soon for Australia. But if there’s a silver lining to be found in the aftermath, it’s seeing people stand up to the ghouls who feed on misery. Stubbs might have retired from the pro tour, but she’s clearly still got plenty of fight left in her.
