Sophia Bush knows a lot about guns and that’s why she wants more gun control.
In a new interview with People, the “One Tree Hill” star opens about about her relationship to guns, including the fact that she got her first gun when she was only 12-years-old.
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“Going to the range was the thing my dad and I loved to do together and something that I really took to. Riflery, and then marksmanship in general, became a passion of mine and over the years has been something that I’ve continued to pursue. It proved to be both a lot of fun and a good skill set in my line of work,” Bush says.
Making her case for better gun control legislation, Bush says, “I’m a really passionate advocate for responsible gun ownership and for much stricter legislation around gun ownership. It feels a bit mental that we wouldn’t regulate guns in the same way that we regulate cars, for example. You have to pass a test, have insurance, get your qualifications checked.”
The 37-year-old also talks about the sad reality of gun violence in America.
“People look at something like gun violence, they look at something like systemic racism, they look at something like political corruption, and they think, ‘How am I ever going to do something about that? That feels big. That feels far away,'” she reveals. “They aren’t as tuned in to how close the effect of issues like those are. It’s up to all of us to remind ourselves that if this has happened to a family somewhere, it’s happened to our family.”
She continues, “Every single one of us has a platform now — that’s been one of the incredible benefits of the democratization of the internet. If this is important to you, post about it, talk about it. Offer some facts to the people who are in your circle. Figure out how you can have a conversation publicly and how you can have a conversation at home and to make sure that you’re doing both. Your platform is yours, and you can use it for the betterment of society.”
Bush also addresses the ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd.
“It feels incredibly clear that organizations like Everytown, and campaigns like Wear Orange, really matter,” she adds. “We have the power to remind our lawmakers that they work for us, not the other way around; that we want to be listened to, that we want safer communities, safer schools, safer homes. We should be able to end gun violence. That’s really the point of Wear Orange.”
