Once funnyman Vince Vaughn calls for guns in US schools to prevent mass shootings

US TV detective and one-time funnyman Vince Vaughn is calling for people in American schools to be armed to prevent mass shootings.

"It's well known that the greatest defence against an intruder is the sound of a gun hammer being pulled back," he says in an interview in British GQ's July edition.

"Take mass shootings. They've only happened in places that don't allow guns," said the star of the Wedding Crashers, Starsky & Hutch, and now True Detective. "These people are sick in the head and are going to kill innocent people. They are looking to slaughter defenceless human beings. They do not want confrontation.

"In all of our schools it is illegal to have guns on campus, so again and again these guys go and shoot up these f***ing schools because they know there are no guns there," he added. "They are monsters killing 6 year olds. You think the politicians that run my country and your country don't have guns in the schools their kids go to? They do. And we should be allowed the same rights."

Banning guns won't stop criminals, said Vaughn. "Banning guns is like banning forks in an attempt to stop making people fat. Taking away guns, taking away drugs, the booze, it won't rid the world of criminality."

In case anyone missed the message, he emphasized: "I support people having a gun in public, full stop, not just in your home. We have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government."

The comments immediately triggered a Twitter storm with the NRA gushing: "Another reason to like Vince Vaughn." My Daughter's Army tweeted: "You're afraid we'll take away your guns. We're afraid your guns will take away our children."

Vaughn has spoken out previously about his libertarian politics, and endorsed Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul in 2011.