Sylvester Stallone Trips Over 'Assault Weapon' Media Misinformation

Sylvester Stallone may sling plenty of lead on the big screen, but the muscle-bound actor is firmly behind a proposed “assault weapon” ban.

“I know people get (upset) and go, `They’re going to take away the assault weapon.’ Who … needs an assault weapon? Like really, unless you’re carrying out an assault. … You can’t hunt with it. … Who’s going to attack your house, a (expletive) army?”

Perhaps the erstwhile Rocky has been watching too many mainstream media reports on gun violence. Emily Miller of The Washington Times, a reporter who covers gun issues extensively, clears up the media misinformation on this part of the national gun debate.

Assault weapons are machine guns, automatic rifles that continue to fire until the trigger is released. These guns have been highly regulated since 1934 and are never used in crimes. The guns that this congressional bill targets are simply the standard semi-automatic weapons that fire one bullet with each trigger pull.

We also know that gun violence didn’t go down during the 10-year span when the assault weapon ban was in place. 

Stallone certainly isn’t alone in fumbling the assault weapon debate. But the actor’s long history of violent films means he’ll be asked questions on the subject again and again, and it behooves him to do a little more reading on the matter before shooting his mouth off.