The Hypocrisy of Hollyweird

Hypocrisy: The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

Beyoncé, Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow ‘demand a plan’ from lawmakers in gun violence PSA

DailyMail: Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé  Knowles are among celebrities campaigning for gun regulation in the wake of the  massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary.

The stars feature in a new public service  announcement against gun violence for Demand a Plan after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six adults before turning the gun on himself at  the Connecticut  school last Friday.

The one-and-a-half minute clip features the  celebrity activists asking: ‘How many more colleges? How many more classrooms?  How many more movie theatres? How many more houses of faith?’ before lawmakers  tighten regulations.

A cast of artists and entertainers, including  Michelle Williams, Reese Witherspoon, Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz, Ellen DeGeneres, Julianne Moore, Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx, Olivia Munn, Selena Gomez,  Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt, Will Ferrell, Sarah Silverman, Amy  Poehler, Adam Scott,  Rashida Jones, John Slattery, Jeremy Renner, Conan O’Brien, and others, have feature in the PSA released Friday on DemandaPlan.org.

The effort, a campaign from Mayors  Against  Illegal Guns, comes a week after the horrific massacre in  Newtown and amid  polarizing debate rippling through the U.S. about gun violence and the Second  Amendment.

Together, the actors, singers, comedians and  activists deliver an emotional plea to viewers to demand action from lawmakers  and donate to the cause.

Looking into the camera, they read  through a  list of some of the 31 similar attacks carried out in the US  since Columbine in  1999. ‘Virginia Tech. Tucson. Aurora. Fort Hood.  Oak Creek. Newtown. How many more?’ they ask.

A statement from Mayors Against  Illegal  Guns, an organisation of city mayors promoting tougher federal,  state and local  gun regulation, calls on supporters to demand President  Obama and Congress step  forward with a plan to end gun violence.

‘Our efforts cannot bring back the 20 innocent children murdered in Newtown, CT – or the 34 people murdered  with  guns every day in America,’ it reads. ‘But we can prevent future  tragedies.’

The organization calls on lawmakers  to pass  ‘common sense’ legislation that will require a criminal  background check for  every gun sold in America, ban assault weapons and  high-capacity magazines and  make gun trafficking a federal crime.

The video was released as cries of  outrage  and support echoed through school halls and on Capitol Hill following a proposal  by the  nation’s largest gun-rights lobby to put an armed police officer in  every school.

The National Rifle Association called for the  armed officers in every American school at a press conference  on Friday,  breaking its silence on last week’s shooting rampage. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the press conference ‘shameful’ in a statement on DemandaPlan.org.

Seven hundred fifty mayors and 750,000  grassroots supporters had signed the campaign’s celebrity-backed petition at  press time.

Ah, those who perpetuate the gun violence in movies, have bodyguards, have ultra secured homes, and live in gated communities are telling us to demand more gun regulation? How hypocritical. Bet none of them are even aware of the gun control laws in Connecticut (rated a 28 out of 100 on firearm freedom) – or even the state where they live.

You want to ban “assault” weapons? Guess we’d better get rid of baseball bats, knives, and scissors then too.

I’m all for background checks and ways to prevent the mentally ill from getting a gun. Yet no system is perfect – especially when the government is in charge. And when seconds count, the police are minutes away.

DCG