World-famous movie star Brad Pitt revealed that he is a lifelong gun owner, and that firearms have been a part of his life since he was a kindergartner, according to The Independent.
"There’s a rite of passage where I grew up of inheriting your ancestors’ weapons," said Pitt. "My brother got my dad’s. I got my grandfather’s shotgun when I was in kindergarten."
The actor--who was born in Oklahoma and raised in Missouri--was first given an air gun, then received a shotgun when he was six. By the time he was eight, he had fired a handgun.
Pitt said he has a strong affinity for guns.
"The positive is that my father instilled in me a profound and deep respect for the weapon," he said.
IJReview pointed out that this is not the first time Pitt has expressed a pro-gun point of view.
After the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting in 2012, Pitt said:
"America is a country founded on guns. It’s in our DNA. It’s very strange but I feel better having a gun. I really do. I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel the house is completely safe, if I don’t have one hidden somewhere. That’s my thinking, right or wrong."