Mark Hamill: You Have the Right to Bear Muskets, Only Muskets
OutdoorHub Reporters 03.23.16
Actor Mark Hamill, famed for his roles as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise and as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, incensed gun rights activists when he posted a tweet that reiterated his stance on gun control.
“Don’t get me wrong, as a strong supporter of the 2nd Ammendment [sic]—I believe in every American’s right to own a musket,” he wrote.
The implied meaning of that statement, as many have pointed out, is that Hamill believes gun owners should be restricted to muskets only. The pro-gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety immediately praised the actor for speaking out, quoting a previous statement from Hamill.
“It sickens me to see the horrific gun violence in a country I love perpetrated against even the most innocent of schoolchildren, followed by the politicians doing absolutely nothing,” Hamill was quoted as saying.
Understandably, the response from critics was immediate and frank. Other Twitter users responded to Hamill’s comment, pointing out that there is absolutely no language in the Second Amendment regarding muskets—it simply mentions “arms.”
“He’s pushing the false notion that we are entitled to muskets rather than defense from tyranny,” wrote one user.
@HamillHimself as a supporter of the 1st do you believe in every Americans right to speak only in Old English accents and write w/ quills?
— Zack Brown (@ZackBrownIA) March 20, 2016
@HamillHimself Hows that 1st amendment with a gutenburg press working out? We need to ban high-powered intarweb freedom of speech I guess?
— Quintus Maximus (@quintusmaxum) March 20, 2016
@HamillHimself THIS is #gunsense pic.twitter.com/lRsaUgxuDh
— Anti Social-ist (@SovereignGuy) March 21, 2016
Some also noted Hamill’s unconventional—or incorrect—spelling of Amendment.
This is not the first time that Hamill spoke about about his personal opinions regarding guns and gun control. In the wake of the San Bernardino shooting, where 14 people were killed by a married couple with alleged ties to ISIS, Hamill once again took the Twitter to advocate for broader gun control.
“We need to change this. We can do this. We must do this,” he wrote, before referencing the Port Arthur shooting in Tasmania two decades ago.
That shooting, which claimed the lives of 35 people, provoked a number of gun control laws that limited the private ownership of semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and other firearms in Australia. Hamill, and many other gun control advocates, have long pointed to those restrictions as an example for the United States to follow.
Hamill did not respond much to the criticism on Twitter, although he did acknowledge that the only regret he had in his statement was misspelling “Amendment.” Hamill later posted a tweet lambasting hunters.
