Vince Vaughn says ‘people should have guns’ and compares firearms to weed

Actor previously advocated for guns in schools

Vince Vaughn has doubled down on his belief that “people should have guns”.

In 2015, the Wedding Crashers actor made headlines when he advocated for firearms in schools, and said he “supports people having a gun in public full stop, not just in your home”.

America is the country with the most school shootings in the world. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 656 mass shootings in 2023 and a total of 18,854 deaths from firearms in addition to 36,338 injuries, making it one of the deadliest years on record. The worst year was 2021 when there were 689 mass shootings.

Now, in a new interview with The New York Times, he has said that he still feels the same way. “I definitely am a believer more in allowing individuals to make choices,” he said. “So I think that drugs should be legal and people should have guns.

“But I realised that you have different cultures that would feel strongly. Like the hippies would get high and say, We’re not hurting anyone, what’s the big deal? Then the hunters would say, We have these guns, and we have a right to defend ourselves, and what’s the big deal? And they were kind of the same.”

He said that the fear around people owning guns is that they might hurt somebody, but “sometimes they’re just hunting”.

The actor bristled a little at being asked about his position on gun ownership, saying: “It’s interesting. I don’t see other actors who say they believe in gun control getting asked [about] it every time they do an interview.

“I think if you’re someone who, like you said, can’t get your mind around it, I don’t know if I’ll satisfy your concept with it. But the basic idea is that the individual is free and has a right to protect themselves.”

Vince Vaughn (Getty Images)

He said that his views on guns have become a “focal point” in interviews, adding that there’s an increased interest in “anybody who dares to not go with whatever the groupthink of the moment is”.

In 2020, Vaughn addressed backlash over a video that saw him shaking hands with Donald Trump, a strong advocate for gun rights, at a college football game.

The star, a self-described libertarian, said he is “cordial” to all of the politicians he meets. “In my career I’ve met a lot of politicians who I’ve always been cordial to; I’ve met Nancy Pelosi and was cordial to her as well.”

He added: “I think people are more charged than ever about these things. But I don’t think most people take that stuff as seriously as the small percentage that’s making noise about it. I was raised with the idea that you could have different likes and beliefs and you should respect and defend that in other people, not shout it down. The people you disagree with the most, you should stand up for their right to do that.”

Vaughn can next be seen in the Apple TV+ show Bad Monkey, starring as a world-weary former sleuth. It’s based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen and also stars Michelle Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Meredith Hagner, and Rob Delaney.