PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Sylvester Stallone is a gun-toting hypocrite :: 09/22/2015
It has been said that hypocrisy is the only evil that walks invisible and throughout history that statement has been proven true time and again.
When it comes to the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States perhaps no other topic in this country has flamed the ire of the American public no matter which side of the debate you take.
Throw Hollywood celebrities in the mix and it is no surprise that you have supporters of the Second Amendment and those who support gun control.
That in of itself is not a problem.
After all one of the freedoms we as Americans have is to our own opinion and the freedom to express those opinions publicly.
The right of freedom of expression and freedom of the press is no less more important than a citizen’s right to keep and bear arms.
That right has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States, when they ruled that an individual does have the right to keep and bear arms.
This article is not about whether one side is right or the other is wrong, that would take volumes to write and in effect would only be one person’s opinion over another’s opinion.
That’s what makes this country the great country it is. We stand out from the rest of the world because in this country no one is forbidden to speak out for what they believe in.
Like the general public, Hollywood is also divided, by those who support and those who oppose private gun ownership and one’s right to self-defense.
On one side we have celebrities like Sylvester Stallone, who has been the most anti-gun celebrity in Hollywood for decades.
Then there is Rosie O’Donnell who came under scrutiny because her anti-gun stance seemed to conflict with the fact that she employed bodyguards who carried concealed weapons.
Matt Damon, who told the Sunday Herald in January 2003, “I actually hate guns. They freak me out,” and a host of others who usually are given more press time for their stance against gun ownership than those celebrities who support the Second Amendment.
There are those in Hollywood who do support the right to keep and bear arms.
Brad Pitt told the British magazine Live “… America is a country founded on guns… It’s very strange but I feel better having a gun. I really do. I don’t feel the house is completely safe, if I don’t have one hidden somewhere.”
Angelina Jolie in 2008 told the U.K.’s Daily Mail, “I bought real guns of the type we used in ‘Tomb Raider’ for security. Brad and I are not against having a gun in the house, and we do have one. And yes, I’d be able to use it if I had to … If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I’ve no problem shooting them.”
Joe Perry of Aerosmith in an interview with Fox News said, “I’ve been fascinated with all kinds of weapons my whole life, and as I have been able to afford to acquire pieces, here and there I started to collect.”
Country Star, Miranda Lambert told Self.com in 2012, “I carry a weapon. I got a death threat a few years ago and was really scared. But I don’t want bodyguards. I am my own security.”
Johnny Depp stated, “When I was a kid it was a controlled atmosphere, we weren’t shooting at humans – we were shooting at cans and bottles mostly. I will most certainly take my kids out for target practice.”
Whoopi Goldberg discussed on The View that she is a member of the National Rifle Association.
Clint Eastwood once said, “I have a very strict gun control policy: if there’s a gun around, I want to be in control of it.” Eastwood is a supporter of the NRA and other pro-gun organizations.
James Earl Jones said, “The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose.”
Air Force veteran, martial artist and actor Chuck Norris has been a long time defender of the right to keep and bear arms.
Tom Selleck is an NRA board member and spokesman. Selleck has defended the Second Amendment throughout his career.
Other notable celebrities that support private gun ownership are Ted Nugent, Ice-T, Eric Clapton, Gary Sinese, Joe Montegna, Kevin Sorbo, R. Lee Ermey, and Dean Cain. And there are many more.
Perhaps Bruce Willis said it best when he told the Associated Press, “I think that you can’t start to pick apart anything out of the Bill of Rights without thinking that it’s all going to become undone. If you take one out or change one law, then why wouldn’t they take all your rights away from you?”
Some of those rich celebrities who do not believe in the right of a citizen to own firearms for their own protection, they employ personal bodyguards for themselves and their children, have armed security patrols of their homes and some who have armored vehicles that would make the Secret Service envious.
Celebrities have the right to protect themselves just as every other citizen has. Their life is no more precious than any other citizen. Like the rest of us they too are targeted by criminals and crazies.
If we all had the finances to buy the protection that celebrities can afford we all would. But the average citizen cannot.
So when we hear these rich, elite, anti-gun Hollywood people supporting a repeal of the Second Amendment, and then we see them surrounded by personal security wherever they go, we see the hypocrisy of the elite.
If you live in a neighborhood where home invasions and other crimes occur and hear the police helicopters overhead night after night, having a firearm close by makes many ordinary citizens feel just a little bit safer.
For decades Sylvester Stallone has been the most anti-gun advocate in Hollywood.
Stallone has called for the repeal of the Second Amendment and the door-to-door confiscation of all handguns.
Guns & Ammo magazine stated in 2012, “Some actors and celebrities may hope and wish for gun control, but their takes aren’t as totalitarian as Stallone’s.”
Stallone speaks out against gun violence in this country and is a supporter of the Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence.
Stallone was a supporter of the 1994 effort to ban assault weapons and he supports similar proposals to this day.
Stallone’s anti-gun sentiment when juxtaposed with his violent gun-toting, gun glorifying movies that have made him a multi-millionaire are in stark contrast to what he says.
In fact one could say that Sylvester Stallone through the use of handguns and assault rifles in his movies, has been in effect, the firearms industry’s most successful gun salesman and promoter for decades.
Reuters said in 1985, “Movie cult figures like Rambo are seen as boosters for every American’s right to bear arms.”
Stallone told Access Hollywood in 1998, “It has to be stopped, and someone really has to go on the line, a certain dauntless political figure, and say, “It’s ending, it’s over, all bets are off, it’s not 200 years ago, we don’t need [the Second Amendment] anymore, and the rest of the world doesn’t have it.” “Why should we?” “Until America, door to door, takes every handgun, this is what you’re gonna have.” “It’s pathetic. It really is pathetic. It’s sad. We’re living in the Dark Ages [in America].”
Mr. Stallone let me educate you on one fact. The rest of the world also doesn’t have the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
Stallone also said, “I know we use guns in the films but the time has come to be a little more accountable and realize that this is an escalating problem that’s eventually going to lead to, I think, urban warfare.”
Well Mr. Stallone it appears that since you made that statement in 1998 you have done nothing to put your money where your mouth is. How many more movies that promote gun violence and slaughter have you made since that time? Plenty. I guess money means more to you than your anti-gun causes which apparently you don’t believe in either.
Actions speak louder than words or should I say your violent action movies speak louder than your own words Mr. Stallone.
Right about the time Stallone was promoting his then-new film, Bullet to the Head in 2013, he said, “I know people get upset and go, ‘They’re going to take away the assault weapon.’” “Who … needs an assault weapon? Like really, unless you’re carrying out an assault … You can’t hunt with it … Who’s going to attack your house, a f*cking army?
More education Mr. Stallone. An assault weapon is a semi-automatic rifle. Its cosmetics make it no different than any other semi-automatic rifle. It is also called a Personal Defense Weapon.
Whenever possible you don’t bring a pistol to a gunfight. Taking into account that most home invasions occur with more than two or three criminals at a time entering your home, I would take a PDW over a pistol anytime.
According to FBI statistics, long guns are used in less than one-half of one percent of all crimes.
In 2012 Democrats in the United States Congress proposed the Stallone Act (Stop The Action, Let’s Love Only Non-violent Entertainment), which would of made it impossible for action stars to use firearms in their movies.
Representative Sheila Lee from Texas told the news in April 2012, ‘When is enough, enough?” “As the president has said, at some point I think you’ve had enough success, and these action heroes have been inciting gun violence for decades. There are strong correlations between violent video games and aggressive behavior, and Congressional Democrats believe the same holds true for movies put out by Stallone and his ilk. The ‘Stallone Act’ is the Democratic Party’s favor to the American people. It’s hard to take away gun rights when men like Stallone keep glorifying their defensive purposes, but we can make it near-impossible for him to get his guns on the silver screen,” Lee said.
It was a proposal that went nowhere. Censoring ones right to make movies, no matter how violent is not the issue. Censorship should not exist in a free society.
It’s not Sylvester Stallone’s anti-gun stance that is disturbing. Like I said earlier, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Stallone though comes off in public as a staunch supporter of anything anti-gun and anti-gun violence.
The he does just the opposite.
Stallone has become one of the richest stars in Hollywood and by no small account from the proceeds of his violent gun-promoting movies.
But that is not the whole story.
Sylvester Stallone advocates the door-to-door confiscation of all handguns.
He doesn’t believe that any citizen should have handguns. He said that from his own mouth. That is, no citizen but himself. Only he has the right to carry and possess handguns for his protection, but the rest of us can go to hell.
Sylvester Stallone is by far the biggest hypocrite in Hollywood.
Anti-gun Stallone who wants everyone’s guns taken away, except for his own of course, is a bona fide gun owner and carrier of concealed weapons. I am not taking about in his make-believe movies, but in his personal life.
Over 30 years ago, on August 14, 1984 Stallone was issued a concealed weapons permit from the Culver City Police Department in California, permit # 7243577.
On September 29, 2004 Sylvester Stallone applied for a concealed weapons permit from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He was issued the permit on November 30, 2004.
On the application for the concealed weapons permit he listed the following weapons that he owned, handguns, that he wanted to carry concealed: a Walther PPK/S .380ACP, serial number 030247; Browning Hi Power 9MM, serial number 245RNS7243; Beretta Model 20 .25 caliber, serial number BE35243V and a Glock Model 21 .45 caliber, serial number AVM705.
Stallone was married to actress Brigette Nielsen from 1985 to 1987. While they were married Neilsen obtained a concealed weapons permit from the Alhambra Police Department in California.
In the Republic of California it is extremely difficult for any citizen to obtain a concealed firearms permit. However it seems as though Sylvester Stallone and other celebrities obtain them rather easily, when regular law abiding citizens cannot. Why is that?
Does the Republic of California hold a celebrity’s life at a higher standard than an ordinary citizen? Or is it that in California money talks and bullsh*t walks.
Mr. Stallone, your actions, which have contradicted your comments, have reduced your credibility to groundhog level.
So in an effort to redeem yourself with the public I have a personal challenge for you. Let’s see if you are man enough to accept it.
Take all the millions of dollars you have made over the years from your violent action movies, and give that money to all the victims of gun violence in this country. As a suggestion, take out your checkbook and start with the survivors and the families of the victims of the mass shootings that we have had in this country.
Start from there and continue on. Show the American public how serious you really are about what you say. The majority of law abiding citizens in this country who own firearms, never commit a crime with those weapons and are responsible gun owners.
I would like to ask Sylvester Stallone one question: Have you ever threatened anyone with a firearm or used a firearm in an inappropriate manner?
About the author
Doug Poppas is a United States Army Military Police Veteran, former law enforcement officer, criminal investigator and private sector security and investigations management professional with 35 years of real-world investigative experience. He has 19 years experience in a hotel and casino environment, 14 of which were in security management positions. In 1986 he was awarded Criminal Investigator of the Year by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in Virginia for his undercover work in narcotics enforcement. Contact the author.
http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/sylvester-stallone-is-a-gun-toting-hypocrite/2015/09/21
