Much like the FBI[1] profiler he portrays in the CBS[2] crime procedural “Criminal Minds,” Joe Mantegna[3] doesn’t bank on surface appearances or follow the crowd, preferring to apply his own uncommon sense and experience to understand issues of the day.
So you won’t find the Tony Award-winning actor jumping on the Hollywood bandwagon demanding new firearm restrictions and demeaning the National Rifle Association. A nearly lifelong shooting enthusiast, he is aware and wary of the extremes in the gun control debate.
“I don’t agree with everything the NRA espouses, but I understand their position,” said Mr. Mantegna[4], 70. “You have to be extreme to counter the other extreme.”
Amid a heartbreaking wave of gun-related violence, he said guns and their law-abiding owners are not the problem and that scrapping the Second Amendment and enacting new restrictions on firearms are not the answer.
“The Second Amendment, if you really studied it … makes perfect sense today,” Mr. Mantegna[5] said. “What’s happening is a total misuse of the Second Amendment.”
He first picked up a shotgun in his early 20s and quickly fell in love with shooting sports. He credits instructors who taught him how to handle firearms properly and safely. Consequently, the actor bemoans how some critics shred those who support gun rights and hunting traditions.
“There’s a lot of credible people in the shooting industry,” he said. “They’re not crazy, not maniacs. … They’re people who hunt in the right way. [Shooting sports are] in the Olympics.”
Gunplay has figured prominently in several of Mr. Mantegna[6]’s movies and TV shows, but he has been able to express and explore his appreciation of the shooting arts only in the past few years.
Since
