John Rich Challenges Pro-Gun Control Singers to Debate the Issues
Big & Rich singer John Rich makes no secret of his staunch support for the Second Amendment, and he is calling on fellow country stars who have advocated for gun control measures to speak to him on the issues and "give me a solution."
Rich spoke to Fox News after learning that Florida Georgia Line singer Tyler Hubbard and Dierks Bentley have both joined TOMS' founder Blake Mycoskie's End Gun Violence Together campaign, which calls on citizens to visit the TOMS website and send a postcard to their elected representatives demanding that they take action on universal background checks. TOMS says that's a measure 90 percent of Americans support, and both Hubbard and Bentley posted to social media in support of the campaign.
Telling Fox News that he had previously worked with both artists and has nothing but respect for them, Rich says he'd invite them to a friendly debate over the facts.
"The issue with gun control, you look at it and you go, 'These maniacs, these vicious people are taking a weapon and shooting people with it,' he states. "And then the flip side of that is, right now, I'm in New York City and back in Nashville is my wife and my two little kids. And if somebody breaks into my house, which rifle would you suggest I tell my wife to grab? Which one should she grab? The one that gives her the best chance at protecting her and my kids or the one that doesn't? Those are the types of questions I would like to ask them."
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Rich cites himself as a responsible gun owner who does everything by the book. "I have my firearm and my concealed weapons permit to defend myself against the crazy guys," he states. "You realize there's three or four hundred million guns in the United States right now. You can't get 'em. They're already sold, they're already out there. They're grandfathered in. So I would ask those artists, 'What laws would you propose?'... Give me a solution, I never hear the solution of what it would be."
Rich fears more gun control laws could be a slippery slope to the type of mandatory assault weapons buyback program suggested by Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
"Somebody literally knocks on your door in the future and says, 'Mr. Rich, we're here to purchase all your weapons.' ... This is where this can lead to."
TOMS' End Gun Violence Together campaign focuses on enforcing existing gun laws that impose mandatory background checks on sales of every gun in the U.S by closing the gun show and internet loopholes that allow buyers to get around those laws. Mycoskie launched the campaign in the wake of the mass shooting that killed twelve people at the Borderline Bar & Grill in California in November.
Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town singer Karen Fairchild also accepted Hubbard's challenge to join him in supporting the program, while other country stars including Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Cam, Rosanne Cash and more have expressed public support for various gun control measures.
Remember the Borderline Bar and Grill Shooting Victims: