During the June 7 Brady Center Bear Awards–where celebrities applaud other celebrities for their gun control support–actress Kristen Stewart warned that it is time to dispel the idea that playing with toy guns is cool.
The awards ceremony honored Chelsea Handler, who refers to gun ownership as a “hobby” rather than a right, and were attended by January Jones, Tom Arnold, and The Voice champion Alisan Porter. Will Ferrell also attended and served as “auctioneer” for the evening.
According to People, Stewart’s attendance was highlighted by Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Gross said Stewart had approached him with an idea about a new way to push gun control and that he was “impressed” by her proposal. He said, “She came to us because she has something she wants to do with this issue. She eagerly shared her idea and without hesitation and is showing up tonight. She is committed to actually doing something, not just lending her name.”
While no specifics were given about Stewart’s gun control idea, People reports that it will revolve around taking “classic American depictions of our fascination with guns” and adding a new message.
Stewart spoke about using images to change the way Americans perceive what is considered to be “comforting.” And talked about how we need to work to keep children from playing with toy guns because it convinces them that real guns can offer protection when they grow up:
One of them involved the shattering of the idea that it’s cool to play with toy guns and little kids grow up thinking that’s going to protect and empower them. We kind of take that idea and go, ‘Actually this is something else that could happen,’ and that needs to be considered by people who might not think about that kind of thing.
Stewart’s filmography includes American Ultra, a film about an unorthodox government agent who has to fight for his life after being targeted for death. Stewart’s character uses firearms to help the agent defend himself.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.