GUNS N' ROSES Bassist Issues Call For Tighter Restrictions On Guns

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan has penned a politically charged column for Noisey in which he offered his support for expanding background checks on gun purchases and restrictions on the sale of military-style weapons and large-capacity magazines to civilians.

McKagan, who calls himself "an ardent armchair historian," wrote in part: "There is some super-heavy shit going down in the world right now. I don't need to pile on and write some piece-of-shit article to create another snazzy social media 'headline' for people to click on and fucking 'like.'

"When President Obama came out with his announcement of trying to procure background checks for online sales and at gun shows, I was slightly stunned that this practice hadn't been in use since the, uh, the advent of modern-day gun sales.

"On CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC, things are presented to us as truths just because one person is yelling louder than the other, really, and rhetoric is presented at a fourth-grade level….because guess what America…that's how dumb or uneducated they think we are. This Republican/Democratic schism is so rank and divisive; I'm just not sure how any of us could pick one party or the other. I think I used to be a Democrat, but some Republican ideas work great too, and socialism too, has done great things for the financial safety nets of this country. If we could just scrape up and pool all of the good ideas that work….that'd be my new party allegiance. No, I don't claim a party, because they are all mostly assholes at this point.

"Background checks for all gun sales? Hell yes, right? What's the argument against that? Banning AK-47's and the like? Probably a damn good idea, right? Who needs them? I'm just a regular guy, neither 'pro' nor 'anti' gun…and I understand and respect the right to bear arms, but do some of you actually think we maintain this right still for the sole purpose of the 'in case' of our own government somehow taking over (as opposed to fighting off the English imperialistic monarchy in 1775). This all seems as basic to me, as banning sales of guns here for people who are on the no-fly list. Is there something I am missing here?"

Read the entire column at Noisey.

After leaving (and before eventually rejoining) GUNS N' ROSES in the 1990s, McKagan went to business school, founded a wealth management firm for rock stars, and took up journalism. McKagan wrote a column for the Seattle Weekly and covered financial matters and sports for Playboy.com and ESPN.com, respectively.

In 2011, McKagan released an autobiography, "It's So Easy (And Other Lies)", and four years later his latest book, "How To Be A Man (And Other Illusions)", which the musician himself described as "half rock 'n' roll memoir, half guide to life."