Entertainment

Kim Does Not Want Her Sisters To Buy A Gun In This 'KUWTK' Clip

by Kristie Rohwedder

Anyone who says Keeping Up with the Kardashians is nothing but lip kits and enormous salads hasn't been keeping up. For seasons, the Kardashian-Jenner family has been using E!'s flagship reality series to address weighty issues head-on, and Sunday's episode will be another example. In a clip of the upcoming ep, Kendall Jenner and Khloé Kardashian discuss getting a gun. As the two look up different types of firearms on a cell phone while lounging in the middle of one of the sisters’ closets, Kim Kardashian enters the room. A serious conversation about gun ownership begins.

Kim questions their interest in learning how to use a gun, and Khloé says it's a means of protection. When Khloé asks what she would've done if a firearm was in reach when she was robbed in Paris, Kim says she's "not Lara Croft." Kim adds that she would not only never keep a firearm in her home, but that she would not be OK with letting her children stay the night at a house where guns are present. She explains in a talking head,

“I’m personally not a fan of owning guns and having guns in the home, especially with everything we’ve learned. Owning guns just has never been my thing, and I think with kids in the house, I just don’t think it’s something that I’m comfortable with.”

This is not the only time the stars of KUWTK have broached this polarizing subject. On KUWTK Season 8, Caitlyn Jenner bought a handgun, a move that did not sit well with Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner. And in Season 12, the family met with members of Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control.

Kim has been pretty upfront about her feelings on this particular topic for years. In an interview at the Commonwealth Club of California in 2015, she said, “I’m not really a gun person, and we do not have strict enough gun control laws." And in June 2017, she posted a letter on her website in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. “I work with an incredible organization, Everytown, whose mission is to stand in opposition of the NRA’s vision of more guns for more people,” she wrote. “There is such a disconnect between what the country needs to protect our people and the laws that are proposed and enacted.”

Later on, Kim noted that she isn’t anti-firearm, but does believe there are issues with the current laws. She wrote,

“I’m not against guns and I’m not against people owning guns. After what happened to be in Paris, I know how important it is to be safe and to have armed security. All of my security team is armed, but they also support stricter gun control laws and believe that we should restrict access to firearms for people with mental illness, anyone previously convicted of a misdemeanor, those who have been subject to a temporary restraining order and those at a higher risk of committing gun violence.”

She continued,

“I hope that we won’t become numbed by the increasing number of gun-related tragedies we see on the news. We all have a voice and a right to feel safe, to be protected from people who are a threat, particularly when handed a deadly weapon. I want to help build a safer future for my children and I believe together we can find ways to do that, while still protecting the rights of the American people.”

Gun ownership is a topic that's as important as it is divisive, and it's admirable that the Kardashian-Jenners are using their far-reaching platform to encourage a dialogue and potentially help enact change.