Vince Vaughn Stands Up

What I have learned in my limited time in Hollywood is that we have more supporters than one might think. Their silence is based on the fact that mainstream Hollywood can and does punish transgressors — a few years back the absolutely wonderful character actor, Marshall Teague (who has died on screen 103-some-odd times, including Death By Patrick Swayze in the legendary Road House) told me that he could track roles he didn't get because of his fearless activism for hunting and gun rights.

But as the Lady of Light Galadriel notes in the opening of LOTR, "The world is changed, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air…"

I believe Joe Mantegna has profoundly shaken those Hollywood truisms, an A-Lister with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a starring role on a current network hit series, who weekly talks about his love of guns…with impunity.

Now culture hero Vince Vaughn has stepped up to bat with his interview in British GQ…from The Blaze:

“I support people having a gun in public full stop, not just in your home. We don’t have the right to bear arms because of burglars; we have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government. It’s not about duck hunting; it’s about the ability of the individual. It’s the same reason we have freedom of speech. It’s well known that the greatest defence against an intruder is the sound of a gun hammer being pulled back…"

Good on him!