I'll try to answer as accurately as I can. The narrative that I read into the media that I consume is that (1) the US has ineffective gun control laws, and (2) that there is widespread availability of a variety of guns and ammunition to anyone who wants it. I believe that gun ownership is a constitutional right in the US. I was aware that only some states are "open carry." I am not surprised to be corrected that some states have strict legislation, but I was not aware of that, and it does not seem consistent with my understanding of gun freedom in the USA.

I triangulate (1) from the ongoing mass shootings in the US and the few mass shootings that I recall from my youth: for a long time it seemed to me that the 1996 National Firearms Agreement [1] had been effective here in Australia.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Agreement

It’s what approximately half of US voters think.

Nah you're not talking about the same thing. When you say it has gun control laws you're thinking "you have to wait 10 days to buy a pistol".

When he says it has no gun control laws he's thinking "after 10 days you can buy a pistol".

Poor choice of words on his part perhaps, but I think it was pretty obvious what he meant if you're not nitpicking.