by Samuel Bocetta
Clash Daily Guest Contributor
We’ve all witnessed the hypocrisy of Hollywood. It’s the classic example of, “Do as I say, not as I do.” In countless shoot-em-ups, we watch as these ultra-liberals prance around brandishing pistols and rifles alike, only to turn around when the lights come up and denounce guns as the evil eroding our society.
At the ass-end of 2017, we saw yet another cadre of second-rate celebs coming out in solidarity to spit on the Second Amendment. Only this time, they brought prestige with them in the form of Oscar- winner Julianne Moore, a very talented and very misguided movie star who joined lower-tier talents like Bill Hader, Melissa McCarthy and Emma Stone to speak out in support of gun control reform.
Except M(r)s. Moore didn’t simply spit on the Second Amendment, she insisted that the Second Amendment had nothing to do with it. In an interview with The View back in October, Moore said, “…people talk about it as if it’s a Second Amendment issue. It’s a safety issue.
“A gun is a machine. You know, when cars were introduced we had any number of fatalities because we didn’t have safety regulations—we didn’t have seatbelts and speed limits and airbags.”
Apparently, Moore has never handled a firearm. At least not a real one (she wielded a handgun in Hannibal and fired a Colt M4 Carbine in Next), otherwise she’d probably realize that guns, like cars, do have safety precautions…it’s literally called a safety button.
Moore is far from the only actor to present a double standard where guns are concerned. Trans actor Chaz Bono has called himself a responsible gun owner but says America should take a page from Australia and take everyone’s guns away to prevent mass shootings.
Bono isn’t alone in his kneejerk reaction to the latest national tragedies. After the Vegas and Texas shootings of 2017, Left wing politicians wasted no time in pushing legislation that would heavily regulate or outright ban the kind of AR-15 accessories and furniture used by the madman Stephen Paddock at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino.
Others called for a ban on assault rifles in general, completely ignoring the facts which reflect that countless law-abiding Americans have turned to assault rifles as a sporting weapon for competitive shooting and hunting.
They have also ignored another fact, one that a very unexpected person has pointed out in the past. “[Mass shootings] only happen in places that don’t allow guns,” actor/producer Vince Vaughn told GQ in 2015. “In all of our schools it is illegal to have guns on campus, so again and again these guys go and shoot up these f***ing schools because they know there are no guns there.”
At first blush, Vaughn may seem like an anomaly among the Hollywood elite. But you may be surprised to learn that not all of the thick-headed thespians in California tote guns in the land of make believe only to turn around and bash guns in the real world.
A-list leading man Brad Pitt has been extremely vocal about his appreciation of guns, even striking a patriotic cord by telling the British magazine Live, “America is a country founded on guns. It’s in our DNA. It’s very strange but I feel better having a gun. I really do. I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel the house is completely safe, if I don’t have one hidden somewhere.”
Pitt spoke out about his lifelong love of guns in the aftermath of the Aurora movie theater shooting. While politicians and stars called for restrictions and movie violence censorship, Pitt was adamant that sanctions and shackles should not be made.
It’s a sentiment that has been shared by other big name actors in the past, most notably the action genre’s go-to badass Bruce Willis who once told the Associated Press that we cannot begin to pick apart the Bill of Rights, reasoning that if we allow our government to take out one law, we’ll effectively give them the power to strip us of any one of our rights as Americans.
Perhaps one would expect the Die Hard star to be a staunch gun advocate, but more surprising gun enthusiasts include the diminutive funnyman David Spade, the Tweet-happy TV Superman Dean Cain and sensitive blues legend Eric Clapton.
Clapton’s case is one of particular interest since subjects such as gun finance and gun shows have also been the subject of much debate lately. Clapton placed thirteen of his shotguns on auction in 2008. The auction illustrates the multifaceted relationship gun owners have with their guns.
Some of us think of them as collectibles, keeping them locked in clear cases or mounted over a doorway like any other prized curio. Others enjoy taking them out to the range for an afternoon of safe and contained target shooting. Still others were raised to treat them as sporting weapons for bagging themselves a fresh meal.
What these celebrities’ remarks demonstrate is a through-line when it comes to guns. Whether you’re living off the fat of the land or feasting off a fat cat’s Diner’s Club card, you should be able to exercise your rights and keep your firearms.
As Vince Vaughn has said, “We have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government.”
Sam Bocetta is a freelance journalist specializing in U.S. diplomacy and national security, with emphasis on technology trends in cyberwarfare, cyberdefense, and cryptography.
photo credit: GabboT 12 Years a Slave 14 via photopin (license)
