Last Updated on June 17, 2022
Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow believes individuals should go through a “rigorous process” in order to own one of “those crazy guns that everybody’s using.” The NFL star was seemingly referring to an AR-15 rifle.
“You know with everything that’s going on, if you’re not gonna outlaw everything, you gotta at least make it harder to get those crazy guns that everybody’s using,” Joe Burrow said after being asked for his thoughts on gun control at a recent press conference.
“I don’t think you should be able to walk in there and buy one, you gotta be able to go through a rigorous process to be able to buy something like that,” Burrow continued.
The Bengals quarterback went on to say that he “gets paid to play football” and hopes the “people who get paid to make those decisions figure it out.”
Bengals QB Joe Burrow, on gun reform: “If you’re not going to outlaw everything, you’ve gotta at least make it harder to get those crazy guns that everybody’s using.” Here’s his full response, via @bengals: pic.twitter.com/xJo1dOWsBA
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) June 14, 2022
It is unclear what Joe Burrow was referring to in saying “those crazy guns that everybody’s using,” though he appeared to be talking about an AR-15 rifle.
If Burrow was indeed referring to the AR-15, he is mistaken in claiming the guns are commonly used in homicides. The vast majority of gun crime is committed with illegally obtained handguns. Handguns were used in 62% of homicides in 2019, according to FBI crime data.
According to a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, 60% of convicts used illegally obtained firearms in their crimes across 37 states. This list included New York, which has some of the nation’s most stringent gun control laws.
While Tuesday’s press conference was the first time Joe Burrow has waded into the gun debate, he has previously issued statements on “systemic racism.”
After the shooting of Jacob Blake — a convicted sex offender who was shot in the act of kidnapping a child — Burrow joined much of the sports world in claiming Blake was shot because of his race.
“How can you hear the pain Black people are going through and dismiss it as nothing,” Burrow wrote in a tweet. “How can you hear the pain and respond with anything other than ‘I stand with you.'”
How can you hear the pain Black people are going through and dismiss it as nothing. How can you hear the pain and respond with anything other than “I stand with you.”
— Joey Burrow (@JoeyB) August 27, 2020
