Joe Rogan has criticised calls to ban guns in the US days after a massacre at a Texas elementary school left 19 children and two adults dead.
Rogan said that if firearms were removed by the government then ‘only criminals’ would have them, adding: “It’s not gonna be a good situation.”
Rogan was speaking on his podcast on Thursday (26 May), two days after Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
Speaking to scientist Lex Fridman on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said, according to the New York Post: “It’s like, how do you stop that? No one knows how to stop that.”
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Rogan went on: “What is the answer? Is the answer to take everyone’s guns? Well, they’re not gonna give their guns up. Only criminals are gonna have guns. It’s not gonna be a good situation.”
He also commented that ‘it’s not smart to take all the guns away from people and give all the power to the government’.
“We see how they are with an armed populace, they still have a tendency towards totalitarianism,” said Rogan.
He added: “And the more increased power and control you have over people, the easier it is for them to do what they do.
“And it’s a natural inclination, when you’re a person in power, to try to hold more power and acquire more power.”
UNILAD has approached Rogan’s representatives for comment.
Calls for gun law reform in the country have intensified following the mass shooting. Last week, Connecticut's Senator Chris Murphy took to the Senate floor to beg Republican leaders to find ‘common’ ground with Democrats over gun laws.
Murphy said: "Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely. I understand my Republican colleagues may not agree to everything I support, but there is a common denominator we can find. There is a place where we can achieve agreement..."
Elsewhere, anger is mounting as authorities investigate how the police handled last week’s shooting.
Ramos locked himself in a classroom for almost an hour, where he killed all of his victims, according to officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
It was confirmed that ‘numerous’ police officers did not try to break into the classroom and waited for the specialist tactical unit - despite 911 calls from students inside.
The Guardian reports that head of the Texas Department of Public Safety Steven McCraw said it was the 'wrong decision' for officials not to charge into Robb Elementary as the shooting unfolded.
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Aisha Nozari