Firing Back: Do Rappers Get a Pass?

Guns aren’t suppose to be easy things to get in California, nor do convicted felons have the right to own firearms. Yet last week rap mogul Suge Knight, who has a rap sheet to match his rap career and has been in and out of jail, was suddenly off the hook for threatening a man, supposedly with a gun. His manager was quoted on CNN as saying “Suge Knight is a businessman. He is not a person who would carry a gun or flash a gun at anybody. That’s not Suge Knight.” But this is the Suge Knight that has spent time in prison right?

This is just the latest example of the hoodlum mentality that exists in the “hip hop” or rap culture. These nursery rhyme spouting wannabe gangsters (or is it ganstas) use guns as fashion accessories, and when arrested get a slap on the wrist, typically serving less time in prison than their songs spent on the Top 40 charts.

Meanwhile, a blind man is fighting to get his guns back – guns which were stolen from him during a burglary of his home. Once again it seems that the rich and semi-powerful (or at least those who can afford better lawyers) get an easier ride when it comes to guns. Maybe someone should rap about that.