Taken 3: Liam Neeson criticized by PARA USA over gun laws comments
Liam Neeson has been criticized by the firearms company that provided the guns for Taken 3 for his comments about US gun laws.
PARA USA said it “regrets” working with Liam Neeson after he said the proliferation of guns in the US was a “disgrace”.
The company added that it would cut ties with the Taken franchise and urged other companies to do the same.
“There’s just too many… guns out there,” Liam Neeson told Dubai’s Gulf News last week.
“Especially in America.”
The actor continued: “I think the population is like, 320 million? There’s over 300 million guns. Privately owned, in America.
“I think it’s a disgrace. Every week now we’re picking up a newspaper and seeing, <<Yet another few kids have been killed in schools>>.”
Liam Neeson made his comments in reply to a question about the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris earlier in the month.
The star, who has took on the role of ex-CIA operative Bryan Mills in all three Taken films, said the gun problem was not connected to Hollywood’s action movies.
“I grew up watching cowboy movies, loved doing that [gun gesture] with my fingers, <<Bang, bang, you’re dead!>> I didn’t end up a killer,” he said.
“A character like Bryan Mills going out with guns and taking revenge: it’s fantasy.”
PARA USA said Liam Neeson’s comments reflected a “cultural and factual ignorance that undermines support of the Second Amendment and American liberties”.
The company wrote on its Facebook page: “We will no longer provide firearms for use in films starring Liam Neeson and ask that our friends and partners in Hollywood refrain from associating our brand and products with his projects.”
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