Jesse James' Defense of NRA, Gun Ownership Draws Facebook Praise

While it is common to see self-serving celebrities race to promote politically-correct causes – then sit back and enjoy heaps of praise – few dare advocate a conservative principle, much less defend gun ownership in the wake of the Newtown shooting.

But that is precisely what West Coast Choppers’ founder, infamous biker bad boy and Discovery Channel star, Jesse James, did Dec. 21 when the self-described “welder” and world’s most famous chopper customizer posted an earnest defense of gun ownership on Facebook.

Far from inflammatory, James’s sincere post seeks to pour some common-sense water on the flames of gun-control hysteria that followed the tragedy. Employing both logic and personal experience, James compares his 20 years living in gun-control-heavy California (where “I have seen more bodies than I can count” and was forced to carry a gun for protection at all times) … versus gun-friendly Texas, to which the 43-year-old moved two years ago.

Since moving to Texas (a state with far less gun restrictions) I have not seen one dead body…. I have for the first time in my life enjoyed the freedom to purchase and shoot the guns of my choice. I have been able to enjoy these things with my family and teach them the safe proper way to shoot, handle, and secure weapons. Using the freedoms that the 2nd Amendment protects. Mirroring California gun laws nationwide is only going to keep the honest people, honest. People that should not have guns, will still find a way to get them. Please join the NRA now.

Predictably, The Huffington Post attacked James within hours, in a piece that garnered more than 3,000 comments, sneering: “According to his logic, he claims that it’s because of California’s strict gun control legislation that so many people have been shot and killed.”

Actually, HuffPo, it’s not only James’s “logic” but that of pure statistics, proven by nearly every study and detailed in Yale economist John Lott’s “More Guns, Less Crime.” And, naturally, the piece could not help but throw in a low-blow reference about James’s much-ballyhooed infidelity to actress Sandra Bullock.

(When exactly will this be old news? The year 2024? The father of three has moved on and is happily engaged to gorgeous race-car driver Alexis Dejoria – perhaps the mainstream media should move on as well, or at least attack the message rather than messenger’s private life.)

Even industry gossiper Perez Hilton jumped in on the action, with a Christmas Eve post entitled: “Jesse James Alienates Facebook Followers With Pro-NRA Rant!” Intro sentence? “Yikes! We understand a person’s need to feel safe! Jesse James, especially with all the scorned women he’s left in his wake!” But this is Mario Lavandeira (a.k.a. Perez) reading his own bias into it as, in fact, many expressed support and gratitude for James’s brave stance, both on Facebook and Twitter, with some even joining the NRA following his post.

Most ironically, James did not even alienate Perez’s own readers – out of the current 32 comments on the piece, the majority is in defense of James’s post.

In true rebel fashion, James continues to prove he is a man who says what he means and does not lose sleep over whether others approve. When a Facebook user, on Dec. 26, attacked James with the following comment: “still have not learend [sic] anything have ya??? bowling for columbine by michael moore! check it out and dont be so dumb and f*cking ignorant”, James merely replied: “Michael Moore can lick my balls.” Then added: “……[ex]cept Roger & Me was good.”

Never change, James.