Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory has weighed in on the current national debate over gun control, in the wake of the recent horrific mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut that took the lives of 27 people, including 20 children in first grade. In a post at his Facebook page, Bathory says he and other owners need them for self-defense and sports.

Bathory wrote, "A rifle is an inanimate object with no free will or intent on its own. It doesn't plan to assault anyone . . . So really, this is all just playing with words . . . If I called my rifle a 'defensive rifle' -- it wouldn't throw up the red flag -- and in reality THAT'S WHAT IT IS. I have it for defensive measures so that's what it should be called. A 'defensive rifle.'"

• Bathory added, "The National Rifle Association and everyone in the favor of their constitutional rights should attempt to educate the masses about what those 'scary' misleading phrases actually mean. The non-gun-owning public imagine fire spewing fully automatic weapons. NO. Private citizens don't and can't have those. Even the phrase 'semi-automatic' can be easily misunderstood by the general public . . . let's hold on to our rights to own DEFENSIVE RIFLES and DEFENSIVE PISTOLS."
• Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to present a plan this week for action that the Obama Administration can take on the gun issue, including reviving the expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, universal background checks, better mental health care initiatives and tighter restrictions on private sales at gun shows. Gun lobbyists led by the National Rifle Association (NRA) are opposed to any restrictions whatsoever, and have instead proposed ideas like arming teachers at schools.

CHECK IT OUT: Read Bathory's entire post at http://tinyurl.com/c2kad2o