Chris Rock: ‘You Should Have to Have a Mortgage to Buy a Gun’

Comedian's novel approach to background checks

Chris Rock has a novel idea for gun background checks.

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"The gun lobby always says, well, people need the right to protect their property," he told TheWrap. "Every mass shooting is done by a guy who lives with his mother. I honestly believe you should have to have a mortgage to buy a gun. No one with a mortgage has ever gone on a killing spree."

Also read: Chris Rock Comes Up With Great Mass Shooting Joke

He added: "A mortgage is a real background check. … And you know if you go to jail for 30 years you still have to pay your f—ing mortgage."

Rock has made the point before that the suspects in mass shootings tend not to own property. But he went a step further at the Television Critics Association winter press tour Wednesday, saying he seriously believes a mortgage should be a requirement for gun ownership.

Also read: FX President Calls for More Gun Control, Calls Out First-Person Shooter Games

He was speaking during a panel about FX's "Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell," which he executive produces.

Rock made a joke several years ago that gun deaths could be cut down if bullets cost $5,000. Lawmakers are starting to see his logic: Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal has announced that he will introduce legislation to require background checks to buy ammunition.

Here's Rock's joke about $5,000 bullets:

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