Heston
attacks British gun laws
Wednesday, 15 November, 2000, 02:09 GMT
Hollywood
actor Charlton Heston has attacked the UK's anti-gun
laws in a speech to students at Oxford University.
The Oscar-winning actor, and president
of the influential National Rifle Association (NRA) in
the US, said British anti-gun laws had led to an
increase in gun-related crime.
In an address to the Oxford Union, he
said the right to carry arms, enshrined in the US
Constitution, maintained freedom and actually saved
lives.
He described the UK's anti-gun laws as
nothing but "cultural cowardice and a subtle form
of surrender to the criminals".
The actor said those UK laws were the
result of an unwritten constitution which gave
politicians too much power.
He said: "I have spent my life in
service to these two sacred sets of work. The gift of
human passion in William Shakespeare and the gift of
human freedom enshrined in the American bill of human
rights."
The staunch Republican supporter, and
a campaigner for Governor George W Bush, also described
the cliff-hanger US elections as a mess.
Mr Heston said: "I think Mr Gore
is filing these lawsuits and it is inappropriate."
"It certainly is making a mess of
things as they stand."
He added: "Whichever man is
installed in the Oval Office will have his tenure in
question. He will not have an easy time."
The NRA vociferously opposed Al Gore
in the build-up to the recent US election.
Heston is president of the
National Rifle Association
|
The76-year-old actor surprised some by
reading from an autocue at the Oxford Union, which has
witnessed speeches from political leaders and
celebrities.
In a well-researched, carefully-argued
speech he spoke little of his cinematic career and
instead spoke about his fight to retain the right to
bear arms.
He said: "I submit that the
freedom I advance saves lives and the freedoms denied in
this country do not only cost lives but cheapen
lives."
He told the assembled students:
"Since the Labour Government banned hand guns in
1997 firearms crimes have risen."
Mr Heston said he would be "safer
stepping off the plane in Los Angeles... than walking
the streets of London."
The NRA has five million members and
is widely regarded as one of the most powerful private
interests lobby groups in the US.
"Before you look fretfully down
your noses, ask yourselves why crime is on the rise
because we need more gun laws or because we need to
enforce the laws you have."
'Unfashionable cause'
The actor said that defending firearms
freedom was not fashionable in Hollywood and denied that
the NRA was a gun lobby.
"Possession of a gun does not
make a man a criminal or more likely to commit a
crime," he argued.
Heston starred in Planet of the
Apes which is being re-made
|
Some questions from students about the
role of the NRA and the nature of gun violence in the US
were ignored.
Mr Heston described the American
Constitution as an "almost flawless" document
and said the bill of human rights "deepened and
expanded" the place of the US in the world.
Mr Heston has starred in some of the
greatest movies ever to have come out of Hollywood.
He took lead roles in epics Ben Hur,
El Cid and The Ten Commandments.
One of his favourite films, he said,
was Planet of the Apes, which is being re-made by Batman
director Tim Burton.
The veteran said he was in discussions
with the producers to take a cameo role in the film.
But he said he doubted the original
could be bettered.
"It has got the best ending of
any film", referring to the scene when his
character confronts a broken Statue of Liberty embedded
in the sand.
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