I’m not a fan of Ashton Kutcher. It is known. I’ve never really liked him, and I’m probably the last person who would ever defend him about anything. But here goes: Ashton isn’t wrong right now, at this moment. Ashton is a long-time gun owner. He’s currently trying to play it like he’s only been into guns because he’s a hunter, but back when he was married to Demi Moore, he used to talk about how they had a lot of guns in their home, including his-and-hers pistols and at least one machine gun. I have no idea if Ashton has gotten rid of some of his guns since becoming a father, nor do I know how Mila Kunis feels about guns. But at one point, Ashton was gun-crazy. And he still admits to owning guns. In the wake of the Las Vegas Massacre, he tweeted these statements (I’m not embedding the tweets because I just learned that Ashton has BLOCKED ME!!!):
I’ve had a gun since I was 12 yrs old but enough is enough. I’m a hunter and a sportsman but No body needs these weapons. Let’s pray. Then let’s change the law. There’s a middle ground here let’s get to the table and find it.
Ashton got slammed on Twitter and by conservatives and Deplorables and possibly some liberals and progressives too. Some people were like “if you own a gun, you’re part of the problem!” No. Gun control advocates need actual gun owners to step up and talk about how there’s a gun problem in America. Some gun owners ARE gun control advocates. Some gun owners really are just hunters who are appalled by the idea that an average civilian could buy a machine gun. Some gun owners are just people who have one gun for protection in their home and they too are appalled by the massacre. The idea that someone could not own guns AND want gun control is not hypocritical, in my opinion. That being said, I’m not waiting for Ashton to be become a leader on this. He’s just bandwagoning (something else that is needed).
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I have my license to carry and my parents have a gun. My parents took all the kids to get their license at the same time they did for safety. We all believe in gun control as do all the people I know. It is hypocritical for people not to realize that gun owners are your best asset in this fight
I have a strong aversion to guns but I 100% agree that responsible gun owners who are interested in promoting gun safety are a huge asset in this fight. As with other issues, those who insist on purity from allies – i.e. those who say agree with me on everything or nothing – are bound to fail.
This.
Playing a zero sum game of “you can’t be a gun owner and support sane gun control” is naive and foolish, and ultimately, self defeating. I don’t understand why self righteousness about a cause (on either side) always takes precedence over common sense. Especially when a solution is staring you right in the face otherwise.
Exactly. My parents belong to a group locally that promotes gun safety. They do classes for families and kids so no one accidentally shoots anyone. Do I want to ever own a gun? Not really. But my parents did not want us with a gun in the house and not know how to use it. Everyone in my area is for common sense laws. Those are the people to take on the NRA (and they are massively hated here too)
Perfectly said. ⚡️
I’m a gun owner and I believe in gun reform now. No one needs high capacity magazines, semi automatics, guns modeled after weapons of war.. But I’m with you on learning how to use a gun. I actually think more women should learn basic gun safety, I myself have actually have had to correct a gun owning man in my life on some BASIC rules of gun safety. More women with gun safety knowledge would be helpful, empowering.
What exactly is empowering (for women, children etc.?) in knowing about gun safety?
@Ama given that there currently is a gun for every man, woman, and child in this country, women are likely to be around guns whether we want to be or not. I am not comfortable with violent white males hoarding guns while the rest of us are sitting ducks. I suppose you could bury your head in the sand out of fear, or you could know basic rules about gun safety (for example, always assume a gun is loaded) so that if and when you do find yourself around a gun, you’re prepared. It doesn’t mean you need to own a gun or even ever have to fire a gun. But knowing rules about gun safety is empowering, or at least it’s the more empowering option over the ostrich approach. Like I said, I personally have corrected men, maybe it saved someone from accidentally discharging a weapon and killing an innocent person.
I agree. My father is a gun owner. He actually owns about 12 guns. 10 of which are antiques that he holds no ammo to. The other two are for protection as he works in some dangerous areas. He is for gun control. He is for back ground checks and waiting periods. In contrast, I have borderline personality disorder and have been suicidal on multiple occasions. I have stared at a gun while fantasizing what I could do to MYSELF with it. As a result I responsibly made the decision to not own a gun and inform all of my gun owning family of my potential issues with guns. I would never hurt a soul but I would hurt myself. I am for gun control as well. Everyone is different therefor we can’t tell certain people that they cannot advocate for a cause they believe in even if we don’t agree with all of their decisions.
@kb…you’re very brave to let people know about your self-harming thoughts. Thank you for sharing.
@ncboudicca Thank you. It took a lot of courage to finally tell my family. I told my father once and for all this year. He has been pressuring me for a while to buy a gun. He said it worries him that I work in a dangerous area and don’t own one. I had to tell him his options were to feel safe knowing I didn’t have easy access to a gun or to constantly worry about me hurting myself. He shut up and hasn’t mentioned it since. I think he finally understands.
I do own a taser and take self defense courses though. I think knowing how to defend yourself and learning what to watch out for and when to flee helps more anyway.
OMG Why did he block you?
I was wondering the same thing, lol. I hope he continues to speak out for gun control. Something has got to change and I also think gun owners might be our only hope at this point.
IDK why people put the right to own a gun over other people ‘s right to live. If you love guns so much, you’re sick.
I posed this question to a friend the other day: Why do a lot of gun owners seem to believe that the answer to the gun problem in this country is MORE guns? Seems counterintuitive, to say the least…
I will always support the right to bear arms, though I would never own one myself. But it’s a Constitutional right, and I would never presume to be so important as to make that decision for another. But AK is correct. NO ONE needs a military grade weapon for personal use.
Just threw up a little in my mouth at “AK is correct,” I can’t stand him either, Kaiser…
I’m a gun owner who would GLADLY give them all up, gladly store them off site (they’re under an elaborate series of locks, as is), and who would welcome MUCH stricter regulations. We have a huge problem in this country. I don’t really even believe that the 2nd Amendment (which, as an amendment *could* be amended) guarantees a right for all people to own guns. I just don’t think the verbiage is there.
The horrible part is that the NRA has their hands so deep in our representatives- but the NRA doesn’t represent gun owners. Not at all. They represent gun MANUFACTURERS!!! It’s sick.
Curious Brit here, can I ask a genuine question? If your guns are all stored under lots of security and locks, in what scenario would you actually imagine using them? Does that makes sense? I’m not being snarky, I’m genuinely interested. Does it make you feel more secure to know you have them? But in an emergency would you actually have time to get at them if needed?
They’re for hunting. Some hold sentimental value as they were passed down. I don’t believe in owning guns for protection. That’s an easily disproved false narrative.
My guns have trigger locks, are in a locked safe (only I know the location of the key), and ammo is kept in a separate location under lock and key.
Even though several members of my husband’s family were brutally murdered in a home invasion, I still don’t believe that keeping a weapon would provide me with any safety. And, in fact, would endanger my family more than not having one.
I have a handgun that I keep in a heavily locked place. I also have a concealed carry permit. The gun is for sport shooting (targets). The concealed carry permit is to avoid legal issues if, by some weird chance, I was to be pulled over by police when driving to/from wherever I am target shooting—my state has very strict laws about not driving with a gun in the vehicle unless it is locked in a trunk (boot) and the ammunition is separate and inaccessible …and on and on…which may or may not be possible depending on the type of car you drive.
So yes, I do have a handgun, for sport use, but I would *happily* give it up if the laws change — and I pray that they do. If nothing else, it just seems so obvious that people do not need access to automatic weapons—truly weapons of warfare. I am sure there are laws forbidding me from purchasing a hellfire missile or a rocket propelled grenade…why is it so hard to outlaw access to military grade weapons? If we could even get that far, then maybe more rational gun control overall will be possible.
I see people walking around my town (the supermarket, pharmacy, etc…) with guns attached to their hips and it does *not* make me feel safer because I know how odd and ineffective the laws are. In my state (Va) it is legal for adults to openly carry a loaded gun in most places (no schools or places that serve alcohol, etc). Think about this — anyone can buy a gun in an instant (if not from a licensed gun dealer there are *no* background checks, permits or licenses needed—and many of the gun show transactions fall into this category), and there are *no* laws requiring safety training. Any adult can strap a loaded gun onto their person and go out into the community amongst us….as long as people can see it, it is legal.
Our govt representatives often hear from the gun lobby. The only hope for a solution is to make sure that your representatives hear just as often from you, demanding that meaningful change be made. Amendments to the constitution are possible for a very good reason.
Owning guns is not the issue. I know plenty of sane, responsible gun owners. They keep their guns secured, and they know how to use them safely and responsibly.
Unfortunately, voices of those people are being drowned out by the well oiled NRA paranoia machine. It is an easy sell for some reason, despite an absolute lack of proof that the police have gone to anyone’s door to arrest them and take away their guns. Like, how have we gotten to the point where these folks don’t worry about the police literally having military grade weapons, but they DO still think that they’re going to ram your door in and take YOUR guns away? Possibly I am looking for logic in the wrong place.
The voices of sane gun owners and the like are going to have to start being louder than the NRA, which needs to be soundly disavowed. Politicians need to be shamed publicly over and over again for their obvious conflicts of interest in taking bags of NRA money. The notion that ANY kind of regulation or training is an infringement of someone’s 2nd amendment rights is just so ludicrous it is hard to fathom that we’re still having this conversation in 2017.
But nothing succeeds with the unwashed masses like the paranoia that SOMEONE is trying to take away your rights as an American.
Fun fact about Ashton Kutcher- he combats child trafficking
https://www.google.com/amp/fightthenewdrug.org/ashton-kutcher-my-organization-has-found-6000-sex-trafficking-victims-this-year/amp/
You may not like his personality, but he’s done a lot of good things.
He came across really well on Howard Stern. Smart guy and the technology for the child trafficking thing is awesome. I just never enjoyed watching him in movies for some reason.
I have no problem with him. He and Mila seem to be a great couple and they keep their family very private. I think he’s grown up a lot since the Demi years.
I think he took a hit for Demi so she could save face. She was really in a bad way with her drug use (which was also affecting her children) and must have been very difficult to live with for a variety of reasons. He was very young when he first connected with her, but he grew up.
The fact that her children remained close to him (and were sometimes on the outs with her) speaks well of him. Also the fact that Bruce Willis didn’t kill him….
The NRA and Fox News are a bigger threat to this country than “Muslim extremists.” I just unfollowed the wife of one of my husband’s friends. I’m not going to read her stupid pro-gun memes, or all we need is Jesus, anymore.
I wish I could unfriend my parents for the same reason. I just try not to engage anymore.
I am a gun owner-three pistols. We train, we study, and we pack when we feel like we’re going to be in unsafe areas or on road trips, especially at night. Otherwise, our guns are in a safe, ammo and weapon separate. I grew up with guns at every door of my home. I STILL think we need some serious freakin’ gun laws in this country. This is ridiculous. No private individual needs the semi-automatic weaponry available.
Isn’t it crazy? I’m not opposed to guns. If people have 1 for protection, or hunting rifles, that’s up to them. (Although personally, I could not. Having guns in the house freaks me out. My great grandfather, back in the 1950s, got into a very drunken argument with his son, and shot and killed him, and then went to prison. It absolutely destroyed my great-grandmother.)
My husband has an old, unloaded hunting rifle in our house. He hasn’t used it since I met him, so I’m not sure why he still has it. I’ve honestly never even seen it.
Our son is getting older and I’ve been thinking more about it. Especially after this Las Vegas shooting, I’m wonder if it’s time to just retire the old thing. It’s not like we are keeping it around for protection, nor is my husband hunting anymore, so it’s just a liability.
But, where does one turn these kinds of things in? I don’t want to sell them and keep them in circulation. Same thing when my dad dies. He has several handguns and shotguns, and I’ll want to get rid of them. Is there a place you can turn them in and they won’t be used anymore?
I would contact your local sheriff or police station and ask them. I’m pretty sure you can turn them in there.
I have my license to carry and one small handgun in our home for protection. My husband and I always say we would gladly give it up for better gun control. Our gun is for protection as it gives my husband some comfort knowing we have it, after a family tragedy occurred.
I think Ashton is on the Silent majority. My dad’s family is from Wisconsin and I live in Colorado. While my immediate family never hunted, a lot of my friends and extended family do. And none of them think there is a need for semi-automatic weapons sales or minimal background checks. They are mature, responsible people who understand that a gun is not a toy.
While I do know some yahoos who have semi-automatics, they are very immature adults to start with, and need laws to keep them and us from their stupidity.
I am anti-guns, I believe only police officers and soldiers should have guns. Let the animals be; stop hunting for SPORT! My ex wanted a gun and I was vehemently against it, the thought of a gun near me scares/scared me.
Thank you.
I hate hunting. But back on topic.
There is no thing as 100 percent responsible gun owner. You never know who can get your gun. You never know if there is someone unstable near you, like a neighbor or cousin. Also, kids can get to them.
I will never understand the need to have a gun. Are you gonna shoot? Tranquilizer guns could be better choice cos you don’t kill, but disable.
Milla, I have to disagree with you about there being no 100% responsible gun owner. Perhaps there are no 100% responsible humans because of human fallibility, but to claim that gun ownership alone makes a person automatically irresponsible is insupportable. To access the handgun that I own you would have to have at least an industrial grade blowtorch….and a lot of patience and determination. I try to be responsible, and surely at times I fail, but my owning a handgun for sport shooting makes me no less responsible than my owning a car.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely support gun control and would gladly give up my ownership rights. But I hope you reconsider your thought that just owning a gun is irresponsible.
I live in a country with gun control laws and this whole mass shooting thing is rare. Don’t get it wrong, there are lots of guns in Canada, it’s just that there are certain types that we can’t legally own. We get along just fine and this is a part of the world where you can literally wake up to a full grown bear in your house.
I do not, and will never, understand the rabid need of some people to own military grade weapons. I hear about the right to bear arms, a well armed militia for a free state, so on and so forth and I cannot comprehend. There are many other parts of the world that live free and happily without arsenals in their basement. Coming from an area with a lot of hunters (which I have no problem with if it isn’t trophy hunting, many people eat only what they hunt and do not buy meat in a store) I know many people with a lot of guns but there are rules and guidelines that they have to follow. Some may grumble about it, but they do it. I truly believe that the gun issue in the States is more of a social problem than anything else. Currently, it is estimated that there are 112 guns per 100 people in the States. The next closest country in the world is Canada, with 70. I realize that our population is massively smaller, but when you look a the numbers taking that into account, we should have a much larger gun issue that the US. We don’t. There is something fundamentally broken in the US and gun control laws are only the start of fixing it.
I don’t think it should be legal to take a gun across state lines without checking in with some kind of gun registration in that state if the state has that requirement. And then if counties in the state have also passed a requirement, the gun owner should register for permission to bring a gun into that county. The unrestricted movement of guns doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re hunting, you register for a permit, right? So register your guns as well when moving them around. It seems a natural part of responsible gun ownership.
I think you do have to comply with wherever you live. My son has guns and when he moved recently back to our state, he had to go register and license his guns here and probably renew his own certification. (I know because he had to come get his birth certificate from me : ) He’s former military and is meticulous about his gun procedures.
It’s like having to change your car and drivers license.
That’s really good to hear. I wish it could be the same for travel as well.
I’m Australian and the only people I know (other than police officers and military) who have guns live on farms. Their guns are shotguns and hunting rifles. They are strictly licensed, controlled and stored. I have never actually even seen a real gun up close or touched one. I feel totally safe living like this. What would scare me is a bunch of Yahoos armed to the teeth living all around me with jumpy trigger fingers.
I’m a Brit, but this 💯
Fellow Brit here,
I’ll add that the only policemen i see regularly with guns are the ones guarding the french and Isreali embassies because they are situated in my neighbourhood. The Isreali embassy guards have always had guns, whilst the french guards only started carrying after all those terror attacks in France started.
It’s mystifying why the french embassy in London feels it requires armed guards when the attacks are in France, but perhaps it makes them feel better.
The Isreali embassy is the scene of protests from time to time so i understand their need for armed protection.
Beyond that, i rarely see an armed policeman even where they are dealing with a lawbreaker.
I have thought multiple times these past few years about relocating my family to Australia, if possible. If we cannot go to a concert, or a movie theater, or send our children to school 😭 without fearing for our safety, what kind of life is that? Since I’ve had my child I feel even more strongly about it. I want to change the laws but in the meantime I don’t want to live in fear.
I’m not a gun person, never even touched one, but I guess I can understand keeping a gun in your home for protection from all the sicko’s in the world. But all these machine guns, automatic weapons, whatever are getting ridiculous. What would be the reasoning for buying one of these? I guess with Ashton and guys like him they have so much money that they need something to spend it on so they figure “Hey, I’ll go out and buy a bunch of guns” I mean, when you go into a store and ask for a fully automatic machine gun or whatever, what is your reason for buying it? And why do you need 10 of them? Sad thing is this kind of thing can’t be prevented. If some nut decides to shoot up a place like this guy did and is willing to die, how do you stop it? The press is no help, they secretly love this stuff. All they want to talk about is records, like it is an NFL game or something. And I’m sure it will happen again in a few months or so and this one will be pushed to the backburner
I agree, I always challenge AR-15 proponents to do a simple risk utility analysis on why we should allow civilians to own semi automatics and high capacity magazines.. I’ve yet to get even one response.
I live in the Midwest and to be brutally honest it’s easier to get a concealed carry permit than a state issued ID, at least in Wisconsin. Both of my parents justifiably were annoyed with the amount of identification and paperwork they needed just to get their driver’s licenses a couple years ago. My dad had always thought that his Social Security card was original and had successfully gotten multiple driver’s licenses and passports in 4 states prior to that but turns out it was a copy that wasn’t certified. As a result, he’s having issues getting his Real ID driver’s license. My late mother had to bring in her marriage license and document showing her name change. At the time, they had been married for over 30 years.
Meanwhile, my cousin’s husband who has questionable judgement in many respects has a concealed carry permit and gun. It’s normal for him to have multiple drinks and drive. Then again it’s Wisconsin where someone getting their 5th or more DUI makes the local news. It’s really sad that they still even have a license and haven’t served any jail time for prior DUIs by that point. He even has the gun on his person in his own home and at family events. My mother got really upset when she saw it on him at one of the last family events she attended because he was drunk and why do you need a concealed carry weapon with family.
We were on vacation in Washington state last month and had stopped in a small town near Mt. Rainier to get some supplies for our cabin. We pulled up and the man in the SUV parked in front of us very nicely suggested we pull up a foot or so further because people had a tendency to take the turn very fast. We thanked him for his advice, but my sister got weird. She said she saw a handgun on his belt and made sure we got in and out of the general store.
The family that are probably the responsible gun owners are ironically the Republicans in the family. They’re hunters and deer season is a big deal. Deer season is a necessity for the Midwest because it keeps the deer population down. I’ve gotten very lucky living in multiple states and not hitting a deer while driving. I don’t think any of them own semi automatics or handguns and all of their hunting weapons, including the bows are locked up when not in use. One cousin has the view that allowing semi automatics takes the sport out of hunting.
“Both of my parents justifiably were annoyed with the amount of identification and paperwork they needed just to get their driver’s licenses a couple years ago.”
This is also why voter ID laws are so harmful. Sometimes it can be very difficult to get an ID!
And expensive. Takes money to get a certified copy of your birth certificate. Most people probably don’t have the originals.
Yeah, I’m pro-gun, but also pro gun control. I have my own, I use it for protection after being raped. But I own no assault weapons, they are unnecessary to put it lightly. And while I’m not a big Kutcher fan, I really love the work he does for sexually trafficked children.
He’s very right, no civilian NEEDS automatic weapons, they WANT them, big difference. You don’t need those to protect your family and your rights. I want to have a great white shark in a tank out back but I can’t, that’s life sometimes, people screaming about their gun rights need to get over it. I’m as liberal as they come and I don’t want to ban all guns, I just want more regulations and a ban on regular old joe being able to purchase automatic or semi automatic weapons in 30 minutes.m
Edit to add, lol on Ashton blocking you!! What a douche, for many reasons I won’t get into😂😂
There are gun owners and then there are gun fanatics. At any gun range you likely to find a cliche with someone firing automatic weapons ripping through ammo military style. In any case where even guns are illegal people get them and murder people. That can’t be stopped.But slaughtering people can be stopped if the government prohibit sales of weapons and accessories that are used in mass murders. I don’t have a problem with someone who legally owns a gun but anyone who owns Arsenal’s need to be flagged.
Exactly.
“even where guns are illegal people still get them and murder people” – yeah, you need to check your statistics on that. A handful die in countries with tight gun control, whereas thousands die in the States. Tough gun control works, and we know that because both Australia and the UK implemented it after horrific mass shootings.
“The idea that someone could not own guns AND want gun control is not hypocritical, in my opinion.” The gun owners I know are still appalled by mass shootings. I don’t see why they wouldn’t be.
Spoken like a typical multimillionaire who right now owns many guns and at a seconds notice can fly his private plane to his safe bunker and protect his family.
I’m the least gun advocate I know, but people do have a right to protect their families and own one if they go through the adequate channels. Gun ownership is a right that should not be taken away.
Having one gun for safety or 2 guns for hunting is not the same as assembling an arsenal.
Nobody needs Ashton Kutcher either and yet here he is! Enough of the “responsible, permit to carry” blah blah blah. Say you are turning in your gun and standing up for REAL gun control. That would have meaning. Tool.
I grew up in a farming community where owning guns was common. It really didn’t seem like a big deal. When you reached a certain age you took gun safety classes and became licensed. They were used mostly for hunting, but they were also carried in the vehicles while checking on the farmlands (there’s a lot of coyotes running around). I never heard of anyone being shot.
Then I move to the big city and people freak at the mention of owning a gun.
There are responsible gun owners and they do need to speak up. Hoarding guns (such as the LV gunman) isn’t responsible. There is no reason a civilian should own a semi-automatic. Or a silencer.
I agree. I am a gun owner but not an NRA member, because the NRA is a large part of the problem. The Second Amendment does not guarantee the right for everyone to own any weapon ever made.
And the Constitution changes and evolves. The Founding Fathers certainly never anticipated the weapons we have today.
Before we moved to outside of the US, we were gun owners. Both with training and concealed carry permits, ( not that we carried on our person). Our gun is now safely stowed until our return to the states. My husband is involved in special operations and is trained to use just about any gun… and still we both believe that semi and fully automatic rifles and hand guns are just ludicrous and unnecessary in any household.
Farmers and hunters still have guns in the UK. I mean, you’ve all seen the pictures of the royal family hunting. It’s just that you have to have a legit reason to own them, and you have to store them safely and in a metal locked box cemented to the floor, or a designated safe room, and then you have to pass medicals. And they toughened the laws on illegal carry so much that organised crime won’t touch dealing in them, because the risks outweigh the profits so much. They also had amnesties where nobody asked questions if guns were safely handed in, so they could ensure people who didn’t want to risk being caught with an unlawful weapon had a safe route to dispose. And the guns sold are fit for the purpose the buyer has – so you don’t sell anyone military grade automatic weapons, because WTF?
Gun control isn’t a ban. It just means that the people who have them are sane, have a legitimate need for them, use them responsibly, and ensure criminals don’t steal them. How is that controversial?
Well said.
How many of the gun owners who want “sensible” gun control are willing to not pay dues to the NRA? How many of them are willing to stand up to the NRA and be public about their belief? How many who would “gladly give up” their guns if the laws changed are willing to give them up before the laws change? NOW? And get their picture taken doing it?
Yes, we need gun owners to be vocal and stand up. How much is it happening? How much money are they putting into lawsuits that could take down the NRA? How much are they talking about industry liability? How much $ are they giving to organizations that advocate for gun control? How much are they talking about *why they have guns* if for any reason other than hunting? How much are they talking about what drove them to buy guns in the first place? How much are they sharing their knowledge of the fact that they are more likely to be harmed by their own weapon than to hurt someone else?
Asking for gun control is not the same as asking that no one own guns. Why do people jump from one to the other?
Because the NRA has them all brainwashed-and Fox News is assisting.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with being a gun OWNER. I’m a real estate agent and I know lots of female agent who own smallish handguns for personal protection – I don’t, but it’s pretty common. I know lots of people who hunt. I don’t, but okay. Guns that have purposes besides MASS SHOOTINGS OF HUMANS. Why is a rational discussion about reasonable gun control so hard for some of these people to have? Because they love guns more than they love people is all I can think, and that’s pretty sad.