An Oscar-winning character actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman was beloved by fans and critics alike for his uncanny ability to not just portray characters, but to seemingly become them in front the the camera. Unfortunately, like so many of his peers in the entertainment industry, Hoffman was prone to self-destructive excesses, including drug use. He was found dead in his $10,000/month Manhattan apartment bathroom yesterday, with a needle still in his arm:

Philip Seymour Hoffman had close to 50 bags of heroin inside his Manhattan apartment when he died and more than 20 used syringes according to law enforcement sources.

The shocking new details reveal that the Oscar winner – who was found dead on Sunday on the bathroom floor with a needle sticking out of his arm – had a drug problem that had escalated far and above what had previously been acknowledged.

His death is a shame for his fans but it’s a tragedy for his family; Hoffman’s selfish excesses and poor judgement have left three children without a father, their futures irrevocably altered, their lives darkened.

In a bizarre twist of fate, as Hoffman’s body lay on the floor of his apartment undiscovered, David Codrea had released on article on how Hoffman was battling his addictions while narrating a gun control cartoon for gun-grabber Michael Bloomberg:

“[He had] struggled with substance abuse in the past [and] fell off the wagon more than a year ago,” the report elaborated. “He tells TMZ it started slowly with prescription pills, and recently escalated to snorting heroin.”

In other words, he was abusing drugs during the time he provided voice-over services oozing with concern “for the children” in a professionally-produced media campaign calling for increased infringement on the right of clean and sober Americans to keep and bear arms, meaning Hoffman was engaging in illegal and grossly irresponsible behavior that actually disqualified him from having a gun himself.

“Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic, or any controlled substance?” question 11.e. on ATF’s Form 4473 Firearm Transfer Record asks. If the answer is “yes,” federal law classifies the respondent a “prohibited person,” who would be committing a felony if he’s in possession of a gun. In other words, it would have made Hoffman the very type of person MAIG says it wants guns to be “illegal” for (disregarding the reality that their efforts seem wholly targeted toward demanding more infringements against the “law-abiding”).

That makes Hoffman’s narration of the anti-gun video all the more creepy, particularly with his opening line, asking “How many more street corners,” as a frightened woman walks along a seedy urban street, eyed by a character in a car and another across the street, with a despondent-looking shadow figure in the foreground. And that’s because, by contributing to the heroin trade as a user, Hoffman has helped fund some of the most desperate, dangerous and violent people not just in the U.S. but also the murderous international cartels that produce and smuggle the junk into the country, distribute it to the neighborhoods, and fight turf wars with guns they have no problem getting, with stupid things like Form 4473s and gun bans not even slowing them down.

Like so many Hollywood hypocrites, Hoffman sought to disarm law-abiding citizens who merely want to exercise their Constitutional rights, while pouring untold amounts of his personal fortune into the coffers of gangs and cartels that are responsible for the majority of gun violence in the United States.

Hoffman spoke of disarmament out of one side of his mouth, while giving money to gangs, cartels and terrorists for guns, grenades, and murder.  When you consider 87-percent of the world’s heroin comes from opium grown in Afghanistan and controlled by the Taliban, you can even fairly state that Hoffman was paying for weapons used against American soldiers.

It’s a sad legacy to leave behind, and in the end, the one that will most directly impact the lives of his fellow Americans.