Jon Voight, Outspoken GOP Supporter, Calls For ‘Proper Qualifications for Gun Ownership’ After Uvalde Shooting

Actor Jon Voight, a vocal supporter of former president Donald J. Trump and the Republican party, has released a statement calling for stricter gun control laws in the United States.

“There should be proper qualifications for gun ownership,” Voight said in a video released through his official Facebook page. “Proper testing. One should only own a gun if they’re qualified and schooled.”

Voight’s stance marks a striking divergence from the GOP platform’s typical stance on gun control. The actor had previously voiced skepticism over the legitimacy of the results of the 2020 presidential election, claiming that Donald Trump is still America’s president. He has also called Democratic leaders “evil” and Joe Biden “Satan.”

“It’s not about left, right, guns, no guns,” he said. “This is about brains that are dysfunctioning. This is mental. This is not about healthy human beings serving the country with arms to bear or even the right of this constitution for bearing arms… We must identify every individual for their credentials, for their mental capacity to bear arms.”

The statement from the actor and father of Angelina Jolie comes after the murder 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The incident is the second-deadliest shooting at an elementary, middle or high school in U.S. history, only behind the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. It is the seventh-deadliest shooting in the country since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.

“My fellow Americans, we are living now in a world that has no remorse for wrongdoings because we are being led by the worst in office,” Voight said. “So let’s take a breath, let’s all ask God to make sure that we will never see this horror again in this lifetime.”

He continued, “I stand with all, I stand for freedom of each soul’s truths. I stand for God’s truths. I stand for one to be condemned for evildoings. And that they must pay a price. May God watch over all and bring comfort for this loss, which may never heal for each child was so precious a gift. And God will call on Jesus to pray for these families.”

Currently, Uvalde marks the 27th school shooting with injuries or deaths this year, according to EducationWeek. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 215 mass shootings so far this year.

Watch Voight’s statement below.

Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!