Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made numerous political statements and made some of his political stances public in recent weeks. With Musk’s anticipated acquisition of Twitter, many in the 2A world are wondering what his stance on the 2nd Amendment and guns on his platform is.
Elon Musk recently came out in an email to CNBC to say “I strongly believe that the right to bear arms is an important safeguard against potential tyranny of government. Historically, maintaining their power over the people is why those in power did not allow public ownership guns.”
Musk followed up these remarks by saying that he is also a supporter of “tight background checks” for all gun sales. Musk also stated that “assault weapons” should be limited to individuals who live in certain circumstances.
Interestingly, Musk would identify those living in certain circumstances as being those who own gun ranges, those who live in high-risk areas, and those who are likely to encounter gang warfare.
Now, these last two groups of people that Elon Musk identifies are especially interesting because Elon Musk is from South Africa. South Africa is a country that is plagued with crime and gang warfare, those in South Africa that live in more rural parts of the country are subjected to a horror beyond your imagination. It might be a reach but it is possible that Musk found his beliefs as a result of the situation in his home country.
Musk took the time in his comment to point the finger at the media for the way they cover mass shootings. “Regarding recent events, the shooters are obviously doing this to generate the most amount of attention possible,” Musk stated. “Why is the media doing exactly what the mass murderers want?”
