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Matt Damon: Gun Control In The US Is A Toxic, Radioactive Subject

Matt Damon has said that gun control in the US is a ‘toxic, radioactive subject’, after being asked about it at the premiere of the new Bourne movie.

Speaking last night in Leicester Square, he said: “What I’d said earlier in the week that I’d caught some flack for was that it is such a sensitive issue, that we can’t talk about it in our country. It’s very difficult for us to talk about it.

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“It’s very personal for people and very emotional. It would be great to have a sensible conversation about how to not infringe on people’s second amendment rights, which is very important to everybody, but somehow keep the guns away from people like (Sandy Hook killer) Adam Lanza, who are mentally unstable and will go and shoot up a classroom full of little kids.

“It’s such a toxic, radioactive subject that we can’t even talk about talking about it without people really getting worried and angry. It’s a very polarising topic, unfortunately.

“It would be great if somehow we could figure out a way to protect our kids from people who are mentally unstable, or people who are on a terror watch list.”

Asked if he thought movies like the Bourne films, which feature guns and violence, do not help matters, he added: “I don’t know. Sandy Hook… was the most egregious and horrifying in a whole group of horrifying incidents, that one was really disturbing for every parent and every American. Everybody. Everybody in the NRA. It was disturbing for everybody.

“But that didn’t get us closer to a conversation about how to figure this out. People smarter than me would have to figure that one out.

“It’s such a hard conversation to have in America. It’s very emotional for people.”

He’d made remarks about his feelings over gun control last week while in Australia, praising how the country had combatted the issue in 1986, following a mass shooting in Tasmania.

“You guys did it here in one fell swoop and I wish that could happen in my country, but it’s such a personal issue for people that we cannot talk about it sensibly. We just can’t,” Damon the Sydney Morning Herald.

“It’s wonderful what Australia did because you guys haven’t had a mass shooting since you went, 'No, we’re going to be sensible about this.’ And nobody’s rights have been infringed, you guys are all fine.”

Image credit: Universal