Julianne Moore Demands Gun Control: ‘This Is a National Emergency’

Callie Ferris
Paramount Pictures
Hannah Knudsen

Actress Julianne Moore called on the Senate to come back to Washington from its recess and address what she called the “national crisis” on gun violence by passing universal background checks and red flag laws.

The Academy Award-winning actress told the Daily Beast in an interview that Congress — specifically Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Republican-led Senate — needs to reconvene and pass “universal background checks and red flag laws.”

“It’s devastating. One of the things we’re asking everybody to do is to call their senators and demand that they come back from recess so that they can have a vote on universal background checks and red flag laws. It’s urgent. This is a national emergency and a public health crisis,” Moore said, adding that President Donald Trump bears the responsibility of pushing McConnell to take action.

“If people are feeling that there’s nothing that they can do, this is something that they can do. I think it’s Trump’s responsibility to tell Mitch McConnell to do it, and he should tell him publicly so that we know what’s going on. Every single country has the same issues with mental illness and video games, and those are NRA talking points,” she added.

However, there is nothing to suggest that the House-backed gun measure — which would require background checks for sales between “private parties” with few exceptions — would have prevented the shootings in El Paso or Dayton. CNN has admitted as such:

There is no indication that the shooting in Dayton, Ohio, would have been prevented by proposed universal background checks or legislation to bolster the federal background check system. The alleged El Paso, Texas, shooter purchased his firearm legally and there is no evidence that he had a criminal history that a background check would’ve caught.

Trump addressed the nation Monday following the shootings in El Paso and Dayton and reminded the American people that mental health issues need to be addressed, along with the “glorification of violence in our society,” which includes “gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace.”

“We must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and make sure those people, not only get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement,” Trump stated. “Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger, not the gun.”

The Magnolia star dismissed Trump’s remarks, placing the blame on access to guns and access to guns alone.

“So, we all have access to the same kinds of entertainment and similar mental-health issues but the main difference is we have easy access to guns,” she said, referring to Japan. “But it’s shocking. And it’s important to think about these individuals. Every day 100 Americans lose their lives to gun violence.”

This is not the first time Moore has spoken about the highly contested topic. She became heavily involved in the national gun control effort following the December 14, 2012, Newtown massacre and has managed to recruit other celebrities to join her cause via Everytown’s “Creative Council.”

As Breitbart News reported:

Everytown reports that celebrity Council members — in addition to Lawrence, Moore, and Witherspoon — includes Kirsten Dunst, Michael J. Fox, Bart Freundlich, Jim Gaffigan, Greta Gerwig, Bill Hader, Chelsea Handler, Melissa Joan Hart, Todd Haynes, Bryce D. Howard, Ron Howard, Helen Hunt, Spike Lee, Seth MacFarlane, Katie McGrath, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, Olivia Munn, Conan O’Brien, Nick Offerman, Ed O’Neill, Yoko Ono, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda Peet, Kyra Sedgwick, Sarah Silverman, Russell Simmons, Tim Simons, Michael Stipe, and Liv Tyler.

Bringing together a Creative Council meant enlisting the help of friends. Moore said, “What I did was go to the most famous people in my contact list and ask them first. When they said yes, I would say, ‘Jennifer Lawrence and Reese Witherspoon and I are going to be on this thing. Will you do it?’” As fellow celebrities said “yes” to the gun control push, Moore said she would add their names to outreach for contacts to show that the gun control movement was growing.

Moore says the Creative Council now has “200 very active members.”

The Kingsman: The Golden Circle actress has not been shy about her hopes for gun control in America. Following the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand, Moore praised Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision to ban “military-style” semiautomatic rifles, writing, “This is what a leader does.”

In 2017, Moore told The View that the U.S. government should limit how many guns a law-abiding, Constitutionally-protected citizen can own.

“People like to talk about, ‘It’s a Second Amendment issue,’ [but] it’s a safety issue. A gun is a machine,” she said. “For instance, when cars were introduced we had any number of fatalities because we didn’t have safety regulations. We didn’t have seat belts and speed limits and air bags. So we’re asking for those same kinds of things with guns. Registration, licensing, background checks. I also think, personally, limitations on the amount of firearms you can own.”

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