Many Hollywood celebrities tend to lean left when it comes to gun politics, so it may surprise you to learn that some of Tinseltown’s brightest stars own firearms and enjoy practicing their Second Amendment rights.
In this case, celebrities are just like you and me.
Some actors carry or keep guns at home for personal protection, others enjoy hunting or shooting at the range, and many are private collectors or simply own firearms as a principle.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s take a look at a few high-profile stars and their history with firearms, starting with two of Hollywood’s most famous celebrities.
Please save your shock and awe for the comments section!
Table of Contents
Loading…
1. Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt has made no secret of his lifelong love for firearms.
The Oklahoma-born, Missouri-raised actor describes getting his first gun as something like a rite of passage in his childhood community.
Pitt received his first BB gun while still in nursery school, inherited his grandfather’s shotgun as a kindergartner, and shot a handgun by the time he was eight years old—experiences that many of us who grew up around firearms can relate to.
In 2012, Pitt told the Daily Mail that he doesn’t feel safe without a gun in his home, and described the United States as “a country founded on guns. It’s in our DNA.”
The actor even made guns part of his famous relationship with Angelina Jolie. He commissioned a pair of custom his and hers Cisco 1911s from Jesse James Firearms Unlimited, the firearms company owned by another Hollywood gun lover, TV personality Jesse James.
How romantic!
2. Angelina Jolie
The “Brangelina” (gag, I know) split in 2016 has become the subject of great controversy and media speculation.
But we can safely rule out gun politics as being a contributing factor! Like her ex-husband, Angelina Jolie is a longtime firearm enthusiast.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t track down info on when this worldly beauty got into guns. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Jolie revealed that she owns real versions of the pistols she used while filming 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider for self-defense.
Jolie was a proud gun owner long before she worked with Pitt to film the action-thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2005. In the same Daily Mail interview, she echoed her then-husband’s statement about not feeling safe without a gun at home and emphasized the importance of teaching her children self-defense.
The couple’s affection for firearms has passed on to their children as well.
In 2008, Pitt commissioned a custom gold necklace with a machine gun pendant as a Mother’s Day gift for Jolie. The pendant’s design was inspired by a drawing made by the couple’s adopted son, Maddox, who was six years old at the time.
A fun side note: Jolie is reportedly an enthusiastic and “aggressive paintballer,” a hobby she happily shares with her kids and the occasional lucky costar. In fact, Jolie’s love of the sport is so great that her children nearly planned a paintball-themed wedding for her and Pitt!
3. Miranda Lambert
As a rule, Miranda Lambert tries to avoid political debate. But if you’re familiar with her music, particularly songs like “Gunpowder & Lead,” you can probably guess that she’s a gun owner.
In an interview with Garden & Gun, Lambert introduced herself as a “gun-toting chick” with a concealed handgun license. She even has a pair of crossed revolvers backed by angel wings tattooed on her left arm.
This image is courtesy of the
Recording Academy
In 2012, Lambert ranked firearms as #6 in a list of “15 Things I’ll Never Apologize For,” stating, “I carry a weapon…I don’t want bodyguards. I am my own security.”
Lambert’s father was a police officer turned private detective. During her teenage years, their family home served as a haven for battered women in their community.
Because the country singer grew up in an environment that stressed the utility of guns for personal defense, she has never been shy about incorporating firearms into her music.
For example, Lambert dreamed up the concept of “Gunpowder & Lead” while taking a concealed handgun class. This song is about a woman who is tired of her boyfriend’s abuse and decides to meet him at the door armed with a shotgun.
Another one of Lambert’s songs, “Time to Get a Gun,” is told from the perspective of a woman who purchased a gun for self-defense because the crime rate is increasing in her community.
Get ’em, girls.
Of course, Lambert is also famous for using firearms for hunting. At her wedding to fellow country singer Blake Shelton (now divorced), the couple served meat they had hunted together to their guests (#9 on Lambert’s list!).
Picture courtesy of Sounds Like Nashville.
4. Whoopi Goldberg
In 2012, the famously liberal Whoopi Goldberg shocked Americans by revealing that she’s a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association while hosting The View, a popular daytime talk show.
Goldberg is never afraid to speak her mind. As a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she clarified, “Actually, I’m a gun owner, babe. I also believe in a woman’s right to choose. We can be lots of different things in one body, which is what I encompass.”
In 2019, Golderberg openly criticized the politicians who tried to push anti-firearm legislation during a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting at a Colorado school.
But don’t expect Goldberg to be a champion of unrestricted gun ownership; the comedian still supports some gun control, including firearm registration and automatic weapon bans, and regularly speaks about those beliefs on The View and in other media.
5. Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis has no time for partisan politics. The gun-toting action star of the Die Hard franchise endorses politicians and policies from both parties.
However, he refuses to be moderate about gun legislation.
Willis has been a gun owner and an outspoken advocate against gun control for decades. He also criticizes the notion that violence in entertainment is related to mass shootings and other crimes.
According to Willis, the issue is not just about firearms (though he certainly maintains that gun ownership is a constitutional right), but about what sort of precedent removing gun rights sets, telling the Associated Press, “If you take one out or change one law, then why wouldn’t they take all your rights away from you?”
The Pulp Fiction actor has passed his respect and enthusiasm for firearms down to his daughter, Rumer, who had a gun-shaped cake for her 26th birthday. The cake was provided by her mother and Bruce’s ex-wife, Demi Moore, who reportedly also enjoys shooting.
6. Samuel L. Jackson
Like his Pulp Fiction costar, Samuel L. Jackson has been a passionate gun rights advocate for decades. This fact often surprises people since the actor is also a passionate Democrat with strong political opinions.
But it makes sense when you consider Jackson’s background.
Following his press tour for The Hateful Eight, Jackson sat down with a reporter from The Guardian to describe his experiences as a youth in the segregated South.
Jackson grew up surrounded by firearms in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Many people in his community believed that guns were essential for defending themselves from acts of racial violence, particularly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
However, his first direct exposure to firearms was in the late 1960s, a few years before he landed his first acting gig.
After being expelled from Morehouse College for protesting the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackson joined a radical faction of the civil rights movement and empowered minorities by providing them with firearms for self-defense.
The veteran actor has never lost his conviction that guns are a tool for self-empowerment. In The Guardian interview, he said that he still carries a firearm and would be perfectly willing to use it against a home intruder.
Like Willis, Jackson has dismissed the idea that violent entertainment plays any role in gun violence, and instead points to “people who aren’t taught the value of life.”
7. Alton Brown
Full disclosure: I have a special affinity for Alton Brown. He lives about a suburb away from where I grew up, we’re both alumni of the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!), all of his shows on the Food Network are wonderful in different ways, and his grits recipe just might be better than my own Southern mother’s (no one tell her I said that).
So, as I was researching this list, I was delighted to discover that Alton Brown is also a firearm enthusiast!
A few years back, the celebrity chef revealed on Twitter that he carries most days and has firearms from Mossberg and Heckler & Koch for home defense. In a 2013 Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything, for the uninitiated), Brown added that he frequently carries a Kimber Solo for personal protection.
Brown has also revealed a particular affection for the Walther PPK due to a lifelong love of James Bond flicks, and really who could blame him? If you’re curious about the weapon of choice favored by fictional spies and avengers, check out our blog on the origins of the Walther PPK.
In an interview with The New York Times, Brown elaborated on his decision to carry a firearm, explaining, “I have an office in a questionable part of town, and I’m often working there rather late at night. I have been accosted before, so I may or may not be armed at certain times.”
In the same interview, he clarified that there are much better ways to cook bacon than on the barrel of a gun, no matter what Ted Cruz claims.
Quite frankly, I hope none of you needed to hear that.
Conclusion
These are just a few famous gun owners, and it’s by no means an exhaustive list. There are certainly other confirmed celebrities enjoying their Second Amendment rights, and plenty who are rumored to enjoy shooting for fun and sport.
Were you pleasantly surprised to find some familiar faces show up in this post? Can you list other gun-toting celebrities? Tell me all about it in the comments.
Also, if you’re curious about the fascinating relationship between guns and the entertainment world, check out The Top 10 Movie Guns and the Top 4 Most Realistic Gun Scenes in Movies.
13 Leave a Reply
Ms. Megan,
Have your concerns grown, or views changed on gun sense legislation in the nearly 3
years since you wrote this article??
Didn't think I could love Alton Brown more!
Joe Mantegna; he is even the host of “Gun Stories” on the Outdoor Channel.
Duuuude how is Keanu not on this list? The man is JOHN WICK and shoots 3 gun.
You left out Keanu Reeves???
Kurt Russell? He is a gun rights activist, but I don't know if he owns any guns.
Chuck Norris. Besides owning guns didn't he become a spokesperson for Glock? Then again he doesn't need guns, we know guns carry Chuck Norris for protection.
I know you said not exhaustive, but no Keanu???
I'm not hip with Hollywood gossip, but the last I read Keanu while very supportive of firearm rights and greatly enjoys shooting as a sport, does not himself own any firearms.
How can you "greatly enjoy shooting as a sport" and not own any guns?
The same way you can love baseball or football and not play on a team :D
James Earl Jones is also a MASSIVE firearms collector. if you buy a gun form him he gives you a note as well.
https://pre98.com/shop/preview-very-rare-italian-1913-brixia-pistol-italian-navy-issue-very-sharp-from-the-collection-of-actor-james-earl-jones/
Very cool! Thanks for sharing that.