We’re living in a world where Kim Kardashian is consistently more coherent, politically engaged and thoughtful than Matthew McConaughey and every Republican politician. McConaughey’s big statement on the Uvalde massacre of children was that “both sides” need to think about things. Kim Kardashian said f–k you, here’s what actually needs to happen: you need to be over 21 to buy a gun and you need a full ban on assault weapons. While Kim’s gun control ideas are not new, I’m glad that she at least has something very specific to say.
A day after a teenage gunman shot and killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., Kim Kardashian reiterated her earlier call for more gun control by resharing a blog post she had written in 2017, in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
“Unfortunately it has not aged,” Kardashian posted Wednesday on social media. “In it I asked ‘is it more important to protect the second amendment than to protect our own children?’ Yesterday 19 children were murdered by an 18 year old, and I find myself heartbroken, disgusted and furious about how little has been done by law makers to enact gun laws that protect our children. There is no excuse and no justification for what happened yesterday. The current laws in our country around gun control are not protecting our children. We have to push law makers to enact laws that are fitting in today’s world.”
Kardashian called for a ban on semi-automatic weapons, which she described as “designed to kill.” “Assault weapons didn’t even exist when the Second Amendment was written,” the mother of North, 8; Chicago, 4; Saint, 6; and 3-year-old Psalm, said. “We have to stop allowing people to use a sentence written centuries ago when technology, times, humanity were completely different, to dictate how we regulate gun ownership, & how we protect our kids today.”
“The Parkland shooter, the Buffalo grocery store shooter, the Texas shooter yesterday, they were all under 21 and reportedly purchased weapons legally. These are teenagers,” she wrote. “Someone who is not old enough to buy alcohol should not be allowed to purchase a firearm. There is no world in which an 18 year old needs a semi automatic weapon, or any weapon, and no world in which the outcome can be anything other than tragic. As I even type these words I am seriously dumbfounded that this is something considered normal, acceptable and legal.”
While she acknowledged that factors such as mental health and hatred, including racism, have driven people to commit mass shootings, she noted that communities can do more to combat that. Lawmakers have another role.
“The one thing that law makers can and should control now is access to weapons,” wrote Kardashian, who’s advocated for prison reform and is studying to become a lawyer. “There are of course people over 21 who buy guns to cause harm, and other mass shootings in recent years have been carried out by people over 21, but if we increase legal age to purchase, coupled with a ban on assault weapons, we can without a doubt reduce the number of senseless tragedies and save children’s lives.”
Again, good for her. After 212 mass shootings in 2022 alone, “thoughts and prayers” are not enough, and it’s not enough to talk out of both sides of your mouth about what’s actually happening at the political and legislative level. Name the problem, name the solutions to the problem. All of us have to be willing to say that assault weapons should be completely banned, that there needs to be a national gun registry, that teenagers shouldn’t be legally allowed to buy guns, that nothing will change until people actually become single-issue gun control voters, and that children are going to continue to be murdered in their classrooms until we fix this.
Photos courtesy of Instar, Backgrid.
Never thought I would say this, but I 100% agree with Kim. Enough with the bulls@t already.
Yes, good for Kim.
Very good statement from Kim.
correction…statement from Kim’s people.
Stop. I don’t cape for Kim, but she’s invested in this area and cares about it deeply. There’s too much of a need on this site to mindlessly trash her.
Also. How about the US just bans ALL weapons. I cannot believe this is even still up for debate. Never seen a country bend over backwards to justify the use of guns in ANY way quite so much as the US. There is no need for them at all unless you’re out in the wilds needing to defend yourself against something when only a gun will do. There’s a pathological illness in the US with guns. It is genuinely sickening to everyone on the outside.
To take it further, I think the age should be raised to 25 (although that will never happen), ban assault and automatic weapons, there should be lengthy and adequate written and technical testing before owning a gun (similar to getting a driver’s license). I also think there should be a mandatory waiting period, with adequate time to run full local and federal background checks (the cost of which would be included in the gun purchase), your name will be put on a national registry, and that whether or not there is a gun in the home should be included information in all mental and physical health screenings, as well as the screenings of children of gun owners.
I also believe every gun owner should have to pay liability insurance for every gun they own.
100% with a minimum of liability and more if they want to cover accidents in their own home. It should be basically exactly like owning a car, imo. Cars can kill or critically injure people. Guns can kill or critically people. It’s common sense.
YES. Having to carry insurance and/or be liable for damages would make a difference with a quickness. With rights come responsibilities. Period.
Insurance would be genius, for so many reasons.
YES. Absolutely.
I completely agree, it should be 25.
The human brain isn’t fully formed until age 25. These purchases should not be made by a yet to be fully formed brain.
Completely agree with all points, Justjj. 100% spot on.
Yes to all of it. We had 10 year old kids trapped and murdered in an almost hour long hell on earth. Was the murderer insane? Yep. Was he evil personified? Yep. Should anyone be allowed an assault rifle? NO. Period. Do these rabid pro gun soulless aholes not realize they are almost as responsible for this? God bless Beto and the others who are speaking out. And now Kim K is speaking truth and common sense.
Anyone is crazy to murder a classroom full of children, but sometimes they don’t suffer from any mental illness that is detectable in every day interactions.
Sometimes a person is just evil and there’s no seeing that until it’s too late.
This isn’t a mental health issue imo. It’s simply a gun control issue. We need to stop addressing the mental health aspect because that’s a cracked window for an argument away from gun control.
@Wiglet Watcher, I completely agree. I know plenty of people who suffer from mental illness who aren’t out killing people. They know right from wrong and follow the rules. These people know right from wrong, they just chose to do the wrong thing because they can. They are evil, racists, extremists. That doesn’t make them mentally ill. I get so tired of them pushing this off as a mental issue problem when it’s clearly a gun reform issue.
We need to do checks on a potential registry as well. To make sure people that have purchased those guns still have them and they aren’t “gifted” or bought for others that can’t. That happens a lot here in Maine. They purchase the guns and bring them to other states for their neighbors, friends etc…
I agree. Maybe similar to buying a car, you should pay an (obviously smaller fee) to “tag/title” that gun and you have so long to do so if it crosses state lines before you’re just accruing massive fees on it. I also don’t think it’s a bad idea to have to pay registration on it and update the owner information year after year, or every couple years or so.
The real question is why do so many Americans feel the need to carry a gun?
I don’t know who wrote that essay for Kim, but they did a good job. I remember watching their show in the early days and there were a few episodes of them going to shooting ranges to shoot guns. Also, maybe Kim needs to re-think her support of Republicans. I know she said she likes the tax breaks Republicans give but seriously maybe sometimes money isn’t the most important thing?
Because the marketing around guns has shifted. What used to be for sport/hunting is now for your “protection”. Those selling guns have successfully capitalized on the fear (and racism to some degree) that you need to buy a gun with the intent to use it on another human being should they enter your house or yard without your consent.
I know for my father, everything shifted when Obama banned AK-47s. He was always a hunter and we had hunting rifles locked in a gun cabinet throughout my childhood, handgun(s) for protection put up so only he and my mom knew where they were. But after the AK-47 thing he went nuts acquiring guns. He currently has a LEGAL business where someone purchases an assault weapon, he modifies it somehow and sends it back to the customer. He’s registered with the ATF and everything.
It is INSANE and I hate it. I havent been back to his house since one Christmas we went down and there was an AR-15 propped in the corner of the living room. Hopefully it was unloaded but I will never know.
Meanwhile, Khloe reposted a Breitbart quote in her stories.
I agree with her completely! And so do 90% of Americans. You can’t rent a car until you are 25, so why the F should you be able to buy assault weapons (designed to kill??) when you are only 18? You can’t even legally drink until 21, this stuff makes ZERO sense. Universal background checks, ban assault weapons (no civilian needs those), increase the legal age to purchase guns! These are all steps that our Senate could agree to but refuse to.
Then, of course, there is the other component, of increasing availability and expanding programs for mental health treatment. This is a two-pronged problem, but it certainly needs gun reform as part of it.
The GOP’s argument about maintaining their guns is that it is safer somehow in these situations, you can defend yourself better if you have a gun. Well, that didn’t go over too well at the Buffalo shooting did it?? And now we are hearing that police didn’t enter the school building in Uvalde, Tx for almost AN HOUR (they were all armed!!). How is that defense even making fucking sense????????
My son is getting his driver’s license today in Houston, Tx. In order to get this license, he has to:
1) complete 32 hours of classroom instruction;
2) take a written test;
3) go to DPS with a parent to apply to get a learner’s permit — where you must show an original or certified copy of a birth certificate (not a xerox! Must have raised stamp); your social security card; and two proofs of residency from your parent (utility bills, banks statements, etc). In Houston this takes a couple of hours (even with an appointment).
4) upon receipt of the learners permit, you must complete 14 hours of driving instruction (with an instructor);and
5) complete 30 additional driving hours with a parent (which you must log)focusing on different aspects of driving and technique (ie parking, freeway driving, night driving, etc).
6) Once you turn 16 AND have completed all of the above AND had your permit for at least 6 months, then you are eligible to take a test.
7) upon passing the test you can once again head to DPS for another appointment to process your application for your license.
8) oh and in Tx, you have to be insured to drive.
All of this is required because of the possibility that while operating a car (the sole purpose of which is to provide transportation), a driver may accidentally harm himself or others and the State wants to reduce the likelihood of that happening.
However, on the day he turns 18, he can just go buy an AR15 (an assault weapon of which the only purpose is to kill people) with no training or background check whatsoever. IT’S INSANITY
it is absolute insanity
We’re in Michigan and we have something very similar except he also has to take something called “drivers Ed segment 2” which is like 10 classroom hours focused on drunk and distracted driving after you have had your permit for 6 months. And he needs 80 hours (40 night/40 day) to apply to take the test to get his license. It’s costing us something like $750 total not including the cost of putting him on our insurance.
As a European the whole gun thing goes over my head but I have learned much about US gun laws and culture over the past few days – so thank you to the US posters on here.
I still have hope that this serves as a watershed moment and that change happens – is there anything President Biden can do directly?
No, that is the problem. The House has passed legislation for gun reform, but because it will not pass the Senate, it cannot go anywhere. The GOP members are basically bought by the NRA (in terms of donations, money paid to them), so they choose to stay loyal to their pro-gun agenda versus anything else that *MIGHT* help lessen this epidemic of mass shootings. They chose their career and political aspirations over the lives of children; it’s vile.
I don’t agree with it but the reasoning behind the 18 year old age limit is that you can serve in the military at 18 and keep one government issued weapon. Now, think about how many suicides of military members these are also used for. This could easily be solved by saying military members at 18 can own them but no one else. They have said this shooter did a w waiting period and background check and passed both. He had an assault in his background but still passed. So what is being assumed is ok to “pass” someone? I don’t know but I think that is where a lot of the debate comes from. I feel like an assault should at least be looked into more a complete denial. But no one asked me haha.
21 for assault rifles
Tax them to the teeth like cigarettes, alcohol and gas in Canada. Make it so expensive it’s tough to buy.
Then use the tax money to use for gun training
And tax the bullets way into the stratosphere! If bullets were $1,000 or more, it wouldn’t be nearly as easy to do. Granted, this won’t happen with Congress gridlock so we have to vote like our lives depend on it. Any one of us could be in the next shooting.
How is everyone not over the BS already? It’s been said a million times before but assault weapons should have been banned after Sandy Hook. And yet people still vote in those who are in deep with the evil gun lobby.
I barely slept last night because I was so upset by this. I live in Buffalo and we are still reeling from the horrific massacre in the supermarket. Yesterday I received an email from my baby’s daycare that they’ll be practicing active shooter drills. I just can’t anymore.
I’m shocked… I agree with a Kardashian…
Why has American culture become so synonymous with gun ownership? Nobody I know who owns a gun actually needs one. The “good guys with guns” argument is insane logic. You’re saying it’s okay to shoot someone if they’re doing a bad deed. I’m sorry, but nobody is a judge, jury, and executioner. You don’t get to make that decision.
I think we need to start going after gun companies. The argument that there’s always going to be people who purchase guns illegally or manage to get their unstable hands on one is valid, so we need to hold those responsible for producing these weapons accountable. We would never let a company produce bombs to hand out to civilians, so why are we lax on the actual weapons that are the cause of so many of our terroristic attacks?
Same. None of my family members who have guns need a gun, they don’t hunt, and live in comfortable suburbs. They will die before you tell them that they can’t stock an arsenal in their garage though.
Mental health and gun violence are and are not mutually exclusive. They exist in their own worlds, separately and can obviously become a dangerous cocktail. Shifting blame to an industry recently scalped of funds is par for these, “find-the-hidden-ball,” politicians. And all the while, they smugly smile thinking, “Catch me if you can,” ordering sanity and people actually concerned about solutions to leave the building.
I appreciate her speaking plainly and saying what we all need to be saying. That’s how you use your platform. Kudos to Kim.
I’m still not a fan of hers, but there were no lies told.
Yes to Kim. Thank you for taking this stand.
This could possibly be the only thing she has ever done that I agree with 100%. Who the hell would have thought?