Ringo Starr Seeks Tougher Gun Sentences

Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr has called for strict action against anyone who is caught with a gun, it has been reported. He was speaking in London Thursday on the 31st anniversary of John Lennon's assassination.

At the Non-Violence Project Foundation event, Starr unveiled "knotted gun," the statue of a psychedelic pistol designed by him with its barrel tied in a knot. Starr urged young people to abandon the gun culture prevalent in the society nowadays.

"If you are caught with a gun it should be a higher sentence," the Sun quoted him saying.

"Guns are just becoming more and more. They're like the death of choice. So we hope that young people will stop," he added.

The ex-Beatles drummer recalled his shock when he heard that Lennon had been shot outside his New York apartment house by Mark Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980.

"My stepchildren called, saying 'Something has happened to John'. And you don't think he's been killed. In the end they called me back and said 'John's been killed. He's been shot and he's dead'. You don't know what to do. You don't believe it really, but you know it's happening. It's just such a mad moment," he said.