Irish movie star Liam Neeson has made a movie career out of killing people with guns, including his most recent film, the third movie in the Taken series.
Unfortunately, Neeson is also a raging hypocrite, and though he’s happy to appear in violent films in which he shoots one bad guy after another, he’s made it abundantly clear that he thinks that Americans shouldn’t have the right to bear the arms that have made him rich and famous:
Actor Liam Neeson is thrilled to rake in millions of dollars acting in violent films where vigilantism is at the core of the plot, but he doesn’t think that the American citizens who watch his movies should have a right to own guns.
Liam Neeson might be brandishing a gun on posters for Taken 3 all around town, but in light of the recent Charlie Hebdo attacks in France, and ongoing protests against police brutality in America, the actor told tabloid! he’s still firmly in favour of gun control.
“First off, my thoughts and prayers and my heart are with the deceased, and certainly with all of France, yesterday. I’ve got a lot of dear friends in Paris,” the 62-year-old said.
“There’s too many [expletive] guns out there,” he continued. “Especially in America. I think the population is like, 320 million? There’s over 300 million guns. Privately owned, in America. I think it’s a [expletive] disgrace. Every week now we’re picking up a newspaper and seeing, ‘Yet another few kids have been killed in schools.’”
The U.S. subsidiary of Para-Ordnance, Para USA, had provided firearms for Neeson’s latest film and is coming out strongly against the star’s hypocrisy, and is calling for an industry-wide boycott against him:
PARA USA regrets its decision to provide firearms for use in the film “Taken 3”. While the film itself is entertaining, comments made by its Irish-born star during press junkets reflect a cultural and factual ignorance that undermines support of the Second Amendment and American liberties. We will no longer provide firearms for use in films starring Liam Neeson and ask that our friends and partners in Hollywood refrain from associating our brand and products with his projects. Further, we encourage our partners and friends in the firearms industry to do the same.
There is an old maxim about not defecating in the same location where you take your repast that Neeson apparently forgot, and it will be interesting to see how many gun owners choose to boycott Neeson’s movies as a result of his calling our support of the Second Amendment “a [expletive] disgrace.”
I’ve personally grown tired of financially supporting an entertainment industry where the stars seem to think that their temporary celebrity gives them the authority to tell me how to live… especially as they so do so from behind the walls of gated mansions, peering out from behind the shoulders of their personal bodyguards.
I sincerely hope that other gun companies—and the American people in general—join in this boycott of Neeson.
It’s about time that he’s retired.
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