In an interview on a U.K. news channel, rapper and actor Ice-T defended the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms. The debate on gun-control has been rekindled by the Colorado shooting that took place last Friday at the Aurora movie theatres, resulting in the death of 12 and injury of 59.
Show host Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked the "Godfather of gangster rap" if he thought there was a correlation between the Dark Knight massacre and the easy accessibility to weapons, to this Ice-T answered, "No. Not really . . . You know what I'm saying, if somebody wants to kill people, you know, they don't need a gun to do it," as reported by globalpost.com, "but it makes it easier," insisted Murthy "Not really...You can strap explosives on your body, they do that all the time," Ice-T responded on London's Channel 4 news show.
Ice-T admitted to possessing a gun and says that right to possess a weapon is to save the people from tyranny. After the interview, Ice-T took to social media with his stance, posting on twitter "If you go into the jungle.... Will you NOT get eaten because you're a vegan??"according to his twitter handle @FINALLEVEL.
Last Friday's shooting once again raises the tension between the constitutional right to own arms and the danger in easy accessibility to weapons. In this particular case, the alleged shooter possessed semi-automatic assault rifles, two Glock handguns, and a Remington gauge shotgun, in addition to 6000 rounds of ammunition acquired through the internet. The weapons were supposedly acquired through local gun stores. The State of Colorado is one of the states in the country that has lax-gun regulations.
The ease with which Holmes was able to procure the weapons is a valid argument for those that favor of stricter gun-control regulations.
On the matter, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells CNN News, "I can tell you that I don't think there's any other developed country in the world that has remotely the problem we have."
The National Rifle Association and other anti-gun regulation supporters reiterate that the possession of guns for self-protection is right granted to every American by the constitution. Arizona Senator Republican John McCain told Raw Story, "So, I think the strongest Second Amendment rights people would be glad to have an conversation, but the conclusion that this was somehow caused by the fact that we don't have more gun control legislation, I don't think has been proved."
According to a Reuters report, among the 875 million licit firearms in the world, American civilians possess 270 million, making the country the most heavily armed society in the world.The need for stricter gun-control laws in order to prevent violence is a debate that has tugged at the nation since the beginning of its history; the Dark Knight massacre has rekindled the debate with invigorated strength. The debate can be expected to persist for the next few weeks, but with unlikely results that would greatly alter the existing regulations, since it is backed by constitutional support and a very influential NRA.
As Jonanthan Mann of CNN would said, "America stands alone in its historic and cultural attachment to guns. America stands armed."
Watch the Interview here.
