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Movies & TV

14th Jun 2016

VIDEO: Conan O’Brien calls for an end to sales of semi-automatic assault rifles in the US

Conor Heneghan

“I simply do not understand why anybody in this country is allowed to purchase and own a semi-automatic assault rifle. It makes no sense to me.”

If you’re familiar with Conan O’Brien you’ll know that he rarely strays beyond light entertainment in his chat-show; he’s very good at what he does and has been for years.

Following the tragic events in Orlando at the weekend, however, Conan was moved to change the tone of his opening monologue on Monday night to address a matter that’s close to his heart and the hearts of millions of Americans.

The gun laws in the United States are a matter of huge contention both inside the country and the world at large and Conan saw fit to question why so many people in the US are permitted to own what he called “weapons of war”.

“Nobody I know or have ever met in my entire life should have access to a weapon that can kill so many people so quickly,” Conan said, before pointing out that mass shootings in the US have become so common that “lamenting them afterwards has become a national ritual”.

At just under three minutes in total, this is well worth a watch.

Clip via Team Coco

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Topics:

Conan O'Brien,TV