(AP Photo/Warner Bros.)
Edge of Darkness star Mel Gibson has a gun.
That's apparently a newsworthy tidbit for followers of celebrity tabloid gossipmongers. Showbiz Spy's Richard Head tells readers Gibson "has admitted he has a dangerous weapon hidden away in his home in case an intruder breaks in during the night and puts his family’s lives at risk."
The 54-year-old actor insists there is nothing unusual about his outlook, as in modern society, times have changed to the extent where people need to be 'tooled up' with weapons to defend themselves, their loved-ones and their homes.
True enough. There's nothing unusual about that and Gibson is correct--weapons are tools, and we owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to have them and know how to properly use them.
It's hardly news though, that Gibson believes in personal firearms. Back in 2001, I wrote a piece called "Hollywood Squares" (renamed by the editor to "Six Degrees of Hypocrisy") for Guns & Ammo magazine, pointing out some of the inconsistencies we find when we examine movie stars and guns. It included this notation:
Another guy who captures the hearts (and pocketbooks) of gun-owning moviegoers is "The Patriot" Mel Gibson, whose "Lethal Weapon IV" referred to a psychopath as a "spokesman for the NRA." While he reveals that he has taken his children to shooting ranges and believes in self-defense, he admits "I don't even know whether I've made up my mind on [the Second Amendment]."
As is typical, I had more information than needed for a column reference. One of my sources was "Mel Gibson, Lightning Rod," by L. Brent Bozell III. True to form, indignant anti-gunners tried to gin up public hysteria over children using firearms in "The Patriot":
For his part, Gibson, again, isn’t backing down, stating that he and his children have gone to shooting ranges together, and that he sees nothing wrong with their using weapons for self-defense.
I also consulted "Gibson Braves Heartfelt Questions" from Claudia Puig in USA Today, unfortunately no longer online. When asked if he would "take up the NRA banner" from Charlton Heston, Gibson replied:
I don't even know whether I've made up my mind on this issue. It's a prickly one. I can understand why it's there, the Second Amendment. I can understand why gun control would be a good thing. But, would gun control be gun control? I don't know. I do think that guns tend to attract other guns. People have to get trained. I've seen little accidents and mistakes on the set. But, nah, I don't think I'd want to be the chairman of the NRA. I don't need that.
It truly isn't that prickly, Mr. Gibson, and someone who did the research to produce a film like The Patriot ought to know that. It's been about 10 years since your reply--have you had enough time to make up your mind yet?
Admittedly, just because someone has achieved fame and fortune in one endeavor doesn't mean he's qualified or has the passion to lead in another. The flip side to that: Just because someone is rich and famous doesn't give them a pass as a fellow human being on doing what they can to promote liberty. And apathy on the part of gun owners, the "let George do it" mentality that expects someone else is going to fight and fund all the battles to preserve and restore the Second Amendment, works against freedom every bit as much--if not more so--than the most committed efforts by anti-gunners.
If you're a gun owner and you're not doing something to help, you're benefiting--for free--off the efforts of those shouldering the wheel. It would be nice to see an A-lister like Gibson use his high profile on occasion to help "the cause," but it's understandable that he doesn't. Still, as with all gun owners, if I had his ear I'd urge him to do something, just like the rest of us who hold personal activism to be a civic virtue. I even know of a redemptive contribution he could make that would not only do great good, but would really throw a curve to his critics...
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An open carry debate
First, watch this video.
I'll be discussing it this afternoon with host James B. Towle on Trigger Sports LIVE! He tells me he'll have on various guests to debate the issue over the coming weeks and he asked me to lead off.
The program begins at 12:00 noon PST. Click here to watch it.
Comments
I would be nice to see Mr. Gibson step up and help the cause. Tom Selleck has been a NRA board member for quite some time. There are a few in hollyweird that are 2A supporters and we need them all to voice their support.
I don't know that Gibson would be all that good of a point man, or spokesman, given his widely publicized public drunkenness, and anti-Semitism. The fact that he hasn't "made his mind up about the 2A" is evidence that he won't be inclined to be pro-2A, since he is in his fifties, and fails to recognize it's plain language. I changed my own mind, about a lot of things, after a near-death experience at 32, and I have to say, I'm a better person for it.
They make their money by pleasing those who buy the tickets, books, etc. Perhaps if more gun owners communicated the idea that THEY would buy more tickets, books, etc. if a strong stand for liberty was taken... might help. There are a lot of us gun owners. :)
Not sure how to deliver that message, even if all gun owners agreed.
Would the gossipmongers rather Mr. Gibson and his family be killed by intruders so they have a story to print? Perhaps they are merely looking for an issue to stir the pot. Gossip columnists make their disgusting living stirring the pot. I do not agree that the Second Amendment is a "cause" -- it is a codified right. People who oppose it are enemies of the US Constitution. Citizens who exercise their rights are not the activists and don't you forget it.
As much as I respect Mr Gibson's willingness to stand up to his "Hollyweird" friends as an unapologetic gun owner and shooter, I also think his past alcohol problems and supposed antisemitism are not exactly what we need in a leader of the cause. Mr Heston was the perfect face of NRA in part because he was committed, sincere and unquestionably squeaky clean. Mr Gibson, not so much. The PR flaks, lawyers and other children over at the Brady Bunch would have a field day. Tom "Quigley" Selleck would, I think, be a better candidate.
Mel Gibson and the NRA would be a perfect match since both are ambivalent about real gun rights, and both are "iffy" about respecting the absolute human rights of everyone everywhere.
Something that is worth noticing from the Lethal Weapon movies, particulary the 2nd one: during the scenes that take place at the police station, notice all the anti-gun posters hanging around in the background.
As if they had Sarah Brady hired as a consultant for the films or something...
Mel Gibson is an actor, producer, director and writer, and his stuff is generally quite good. But I've never been sold on his stand on the 2A, despite Braveheart and the Patriot. He's also shown himself to be more than a little off kilter.
Watch Tom Selleck's "Jesse Stone" series in which he both starred and produced. Storylines are more subtle, grounded in reality, but still very gritty and intriguing. The gun and 2A stuff is subtle, but present. Chief Stone (Selleck) packs a 1911, he knows how to use it, and I think every installment has Stone and his officers practicing at the range.
"Jesse Stone: Night Passage" is a prequel to "Stone Cold" so my advice is to rent "Night Passage" first. Then watch 'em in the order produced.
In his 2000 Playboy interview, Gibson was equally wishy-washy:
Playboy: Gun Control?
Gibson: That's a tough question. There are so many as*les out there with guns, and they'll always have guns, so you might as well have the right to bear arms.
Playboy: Do you own guns?
Gibson: I would rather not talk about that. I do.
Playboy: You have six children. How do you deal with the fact that most gun accidents happen in the home?
Gibson: By keeping it in someone else's house.
Playboy: What type of protection does that offer?
Gibson: Anybody comes knocking, I've got a hockey stick and a bat and, what's even better, a shinto stick, which I can beat the s*t out of them with. It's real snappy, like a hurling stick. It's a triangular piece of wood from Scotland.
As far as the anti-gun posters in Lethal Weapon go, those were the brainchild of Danny Glover, who is a typical flaming Hollywood socialist.
In short, Mel doesn't "get it," but he's much better than most
I seriously doubt Gibson is anti-semitic despite his almost confession that "it must be in there somewhere". He was just a drunk who found a nerve and he kept hitting it. If the guy had had a harelip, he would have been hitting on that. He was a belligerent drunk and as they are wont to do, he looked for any lever he could use. Is that desirable? Hell no! However, he wasn't armed when he got drunk and drove. Take his driver's license and put him in a program. To date he hasn't really proven himself to be anti-simitic. Just a belligerent drunk, which means he shouldn't drink.
Why are you even asking him to take up the banner of the NRA? Who the hell wants to sign on to a group that sell's gun owners out?
Once you cross the ADL, you're done. How 1% of the population has such strong clout in the nations entertainment, politics and banking is surely remarkable. Outside of a disciplined military or civilian unit engaging in rendition of persons responsible for the dismantling of America, the future of the Republic is dark. For example, Monsanto's head gmo poisoner Hugh Grant should be arrested, renditioned, tried and when found guilty, executed by firing squad in Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, or Uzbekistan. Likewise, Geithner, Bernanke, Blankfein, Pelosi, Reid, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Paulson, Rubin, Wolfowich, Silverstein, Perry etc. Some are calling for the 5 justices of the Supreme Court to be tried for treason for yesterdays decision. The Constitution demands citizens take action when the government goes rogue..and I we can all agree such is the case. So let's not bicker about picking leaders until the chaff has been removed. So, what are we waiting for..FBI to arrest crooks? lol
5thofNov: I'm not asking him to do that. I merely presented his answer on RKBA when he was asked that by someone else. All I am saying is there are plenty of universe-revolves-around-their-navel celebrities who enjoy the benefits of gun ownership, and more often or not they work against us and/or do nothing to help. My position is everyone who benefits should do *something* to help, and being rich and famous is no excuse not to. The only specific *suggestion* I have for Gibson, if you click on the final link, is to donate to JPFO--both to support efforts to preserve/restore rkba and to help mitigate the reputation he picked up in his drunk driving arrest.
I read the opening article with dismay. It's windy, repetitive, and seems not to make a clear point. Are the commenters buying into the idea that just because the formerly cute Susan Sarandon can be upset at everything that comes along, all actors should. Gibson didn't fight in the American Revolution, nor did his children; he simply acted in a movie. His guts wren't really being torn out in "Braveheart," but his cry "Freedom!" was very convincing. Listen, the man owns a pistol and for some reason the readers here want him to lead the charge up San Juan Hill. Get real! What do you want? Every man a fanatic? I own plenty of guns and am a hearty activist, but I ain't never been in a movie.
If you wished to make a list of Hollywood types who make a living handling firearms on the big and small screens, then turn around and preach against firearms ownership you would need to be prepared to make a very long list indeed. You could start off with the whole cast of "The Departed". Mel Gibson would be nowhere near the top of the list if he was on it at all. But neither would he be on my list of preferred front man for the NRA. Tom Sellick would be good but my choice would be Ted Nugent.
It's nice when someone who has Fame & Fortune makes a statement that he/she doesn't know everything about everything. Just because you're proficient in one area of life doesn't make you proficient in all areas of life. Bravo "Mel Gibson" for being man enough to speak truth, instead of being ignorant and then opening your mouth and showing your ignorance. Thank You.
Hollywood actors are "Only Ones," too. Take Donny Wahlberg. He was convicted of felony assault in Massachusetts as a young man, which disqualifies him from owning or handling firearms. Yet the trailers for every movie he's ever been in show him happily blasting away something at the camera. An activist of my acquaintance made a formal complaint to the BATF about this, and they shrugged him off with the excuse that for all they know, they were all phony guns. I guess investigation is a four-letter word at BATF
There’s an old saying about “follow the money” that comes into play here.
It’s my understanding that Mel Gibson is in fact pro-gun but when your money to fund film projects comes with strings attached then (if you want a career) you do what the money people tell you to do.
I know it’s easy to get into stereo types like Holly Weird and the Left Coast but when the handlers and the influence of the money people is removed a lot of the Holly Wood left maybe more pro-bill of rights and thus pro-gun than you would imagine.
Fear is a powerful weapon Tyranny knows how to use it well!
I made my comment at KABA. I don't think it would show up here if I posted it. Deadeye
Henry Bowman: Mark, not Donny.
keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=2360
Okay, my post showed up here. I'll try to make a comment about Mel here. First, I think lots of Hollywood types are gun owners and supporters of the second amendment. That being said, I also believe that they know who writes their paychecks. The Film and tv business is owned and managed by those who are enemies of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. They publicly expouse the views held by their employers. Mr.Gibson while drunk, dropped the illusion and spoke from the heart to that traffic cop. I've been there and done that myself. When the haze lifted from Mel's mind, he went into damage control and refuted his previous statements, to preserve his career. If not, he would have been unable to get backing for any future movies he wished to make. I believe what he said to the cop was the truth and because he did recant his statements, I lost respect for his as a man. The Beast is here and is in control of almost everything. Those who wish to ignore that fact are not our friends. Deadeye
If people who own guns and people who thinks it is the right of other's to own guns would quit buying dvd's and going to the antigun funded movies and backing their agenda it would less money in their pockets and purses,and less talking.
All of you should join the NRA if you believe in our 2nd Amendment Rights!!!!!!!!!
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