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Stevie Wonder, Gun Control: Singer Calls for 'Stronger and Stricter' Laws After Connecticut School Shooting

Posted Dec 17th 2012 10:50AM by Brittany Galla
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Many singers have expressed their condolences to those affected by the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 children and six staff members. Now, Stevie Wonder has once again spoken up on the issue of gun control.

In an interview with RollingStone.com after a performance at his 17th Annual House Full Of Toys Benefit Concert on Saturday (Dec. 15) in Los Angeles, he said, "I think we're at a very interesting time now where we can use again tragedy such as this, which is a major tragedy, as a way to moving forward to something that we need to confront. I think people can't think like they're living in the wild, wild west going into 2013."

Wonder continued, "With guns and their accessibilities, there have to be stronger and stricter gun laws. It's OK saying no, it's OK particularly when you know some people are not as mentally stable. So you don't want them to have a gun or any other kind of weapon at their disposal. Here we are in this time where we're all in pain because of the loss ... it's ridiculous. No matter how you look at it, it's ridiculous and if you don't see that there's a need to think differently, to see things a little differently than you did in the past, then you're not in touch with today, you're still lost in yesterday."

During his performance, Wonder also asked the crowd for a moment of silence to honor the shooting victims.

This isn't the first time Wonder has shared his opinion on the need for stricter gun control in the U.S.

After a gunman in Colorado killed 12 movie theater-goers this past July, Wonder said, "I'm concerned about how accessible guns are ... I'm talking about in the hood. That [shooting in Colorado] was also very sad, but this is an occurrence almost every week in various cities. No politician wants to confront it. The right to bear arms? What about the right to live?"

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