Russell Simmons' Hypocritical NRA Slam

Russell Simmons recently unleashed a broadside against the NRA in the wake of the tragic Aurora shooting.

In that tirade, Simmons went full-bore against the Second Amendment:

“[T]he NRA has been successful at blocking attempts to pass reasonable legislation that would require background checks at gun-shows (currently there are none), as well as blocking people on the terror watch list and those who are mentally unstable from obtaining guns and putting an end to the sale of accessories like 100 round drums. They are also the group behind the “Stand Your Ground” law that George Zimmerman claims protects him from being convicted of killing Trayvon Martin. Our nation has been held hostage by 4 million people and $300 million dollars. The safety of our schools, our streets, our homes, our movie theaters, is being controlled by thosewho cling to their guns, their assault weapons and their weapons of war. They don’t intimidateme, so I will speak my piece, as I am a man of peace.”

Simmons also tossed out the race card for good measure:

“It is unfathomable to me that the only time this country or the media wants to broach the subject is when there are mass shootings, and most of the victims are white. Well, I hate to break the news to you, but there are mass shootings in Chicago every weekend. There are mass shootings in New York City every weekend. There are mass shootings in Los Angeles every weekend. Every 39 minutes, a black child or teenager is shot in America, and the media doesn’t mention it and everyone else keeps it moving. And we only want to mention the word “gun reform” when white people are killed?”

For a man of peace, Simmons has some odd acts on the label of Def Jam records, which he helped build into a major distributor of CDs primarily for rap acts.

One of those rappers? Ludacris. The lyrics from some of Ludacris’ hits are telling – especially when you consider that gangster rap glorifies the lifestyle that leads to a lot of black children and youths getting shot.

For instance, from “We Got”:

“You better tell ya man that with the gauges I’m nice

I’ll shoot up y’all white shirts until yall look like dice”

Or how about this gem from “Roll Out”

“Hehehehehe, you think you fly, I know you not

Hehehehehe, you tote yo knife, I tote my Glock”

Or how about Ja Rule? Ja Rule’s song “Gun Talk” featured these:

“I dont’ care if you’re a criminal or a cop, shoot or get shot

I’m raised by the plot, product of the hater

The gauge and the Glock, and I keep a blade

I ain’t afraid if it pop, the gauge still a gun”

Ja Rule, at present, is doing time on drug and gun charges, as well as for failure to report income.

In 2002, Bill O’Reilly wrote a syndicated column about the Ludacris controversy, “Scores of grammar school teachers in the inner cities of America have written to me detailing horror stories spurred on, they say, by rap music. One fifth-grade teacher told me that it is common in her class for 10-year-old boys to call little girls “bitches.” And those little boys can quote the lyrics of Ludacris with amazing accuracy.”

Meanwhile, the NRA did take steps to curb shootings long before Aurora by promoting the expansion of Project Exile – which cut murder rates in Richmond substantially by putting away the bad guys. If Simmons wanted to really make a difference against black-on-black crime, he’d stop promoting gangster rap and support programs like Project Exile across the country in the inner cities.

But rap has made Simmons a one percenter, so he may not be willing to give it up. In claiming the NRA is punking the country, he only shows that he is the one trying to punk Americans into giving up their Second Amendment rights.

In the interest of full disclosure, the author has listened to – and did own – some gangster rap CDs in his younger days.