Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory has weighed in on the gun control debate, claiming that calls for stricter gun control laws are a result of public misconception caused by factions of the media.
In his statement posted on Facebook, Bathory argued that anti-gun advocates were deliberately depicting an inaccurate image of guns, particularly assault rifles: “Anti-gun advocates in the media placing all the emphasis on the word ‘ASSAULT’ for a reason. It sounds menacing to those who don’t know much about weapons, and this particular word also embodies the concepts of ‘first strike’ and ‘aggression’… and the media just loooves that.”
The guitarist, however, said that guns alone aren’t dangerous: “The fact IS, however — a rifle is an inanimate object with no free will or intent on its own. It doesn’t plan to assault anyone… So really, this is all just playing with words….”
He explained that he believed there should be a different terminology used for assault rifles: “If I called my rifle a ‘defensive rifle’ — it wouldn’t throw up the red flag — and in reality THAT’S WHAT IT IS. I have it for defensive measures so that’s what it should be called. A ‘defensive rifle.’”
Bathory said that public awareness was a key factor in the issue of gun control: “The National Rifle Association and everyone in the favor of their constitutional rights should attempt to educate the masses about what those ‘scary’ misleading phrases actually mean.”
He added: “The non-gun-owning public imagine fire spewing fully automatic weapons. NO. Private citizens don’t and can’t have those. Even the phrase ‘semi-automatic’ can be easily misunderstood by the general public… It doesn’t mean it’s a ‘little bit of blazing fire’ — or ‘sometimes automatic sometimes not. No — it’s one bullet per one pressing on the trigger. Just like a musket… without you having to pour gunpowder in the barrel and drop a led ball in there — the semi auto gun does it all for you — but ONE at the time… So no raining fire blaze Rambo style… NONE of that happens… even though in a case of home invasion, some of you’d probably wish it did.”
Bathory concluded by insisting the public stay armed for defensive purposes: “Anyway… let’s hold on to our rights to own DEFENSIVE RIFLES and DEFENSIVE PISTOLS.”