‘Only criminals are gonna have them’: Joe Rogan slams calls for increased US gun control

Joe Rogan has blasted calls to ban guns in the US, saying that if the government moved to take away firearms then “only criminals” would have them.

Joe Rogan blasted calls to ban guns in the wake of the Texas elementary school massacre, saying that if the government moved to take away firearms then “only criminals” would have them.

Rogan defended his opposition to gun control after gunman Salvador Ramos 18, shot dead 19 students and two teachers last week at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

“It’s like, how do you stop that? No one knows how to stop that,” he said during an interview with scientist Lex Fridman Thursday on an episode of his Spotify podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

“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.”

Rogan added that he doesn’t think it’s 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.”

Rogan continued: “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.”

Rogan added that he doesn’t think it’s smart ‘to take all the guns away from people and give all the power to the government’.

Anger has swelled in recent days after it was learned that local police failed to confront the Texas school gunman soon enough.

Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton says it is “mind-boggling” how much Texas authorities mishandled last week’s school massacre.

Uvalde authorities have come under intense scrutiny for their handling of the massacre.

Police did not enter Robb Elementary School for more than 90 minutes after arriving at the campus, where a deranged teenager fatally shot his innocent victims with an AR-15 assault rifle.

The NRA kicked off its annual convention in Houston on Friday, days after 19 students and two teachers died in a shooting in Uvalde.

Protesters in support of gun control hold signs outside the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in Houston.

The mass shooting, which took place just days after 10 black people were killed at a supermarket in Buffalo, has once again reignited national debate about gun control.

Rogan has expressed his opposition to gun control in years past. In 2013, he tweeted: “This country has a mental health problem disguised as a gun problem and a tyranny problem disguised as a security problem.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission