HYPOCRITICAL HOLLYWOOD

But they have always been such models of good character, of course

PISTOL-packing Joe Mantegna is blasting a chink in the politically correct armor of some Hollywood heavyweights - he says they love to own and shoot guns. The "Joan of Arcadia" star says that such left-leaning showbiz types as Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and playwright David Mamet are all avid shooters. "Lots of guys in Hollywood love to shoot," Mantegna, a longtime gun sportsman, tells Fade In magazine. "But they ain't gonna talk to you."

"Apocalypse Now" screenwriter John Milius agrees. "It's fascinating that Hollywood is so hypocritical," he says. "Many people own [guns], but consistently vote against them and never talk about them. I used to shoot with Spielberg and [Robert] Zemeckis and Robert Stack. But no one else would admit they had any."

Producer/manager Jay Bernstein, who shepherded Farrah Fawcett and Linda Evans to fame, carries a gun in public and is prone to flashing it at Hollywood parties. But even he won't confirm that he has a Carry Concealed Weapons permit. "It's one of the most uncomfortable subjects," Bernstein says, "because 'anti-gun' is more popular than 'gun' in Los Angeles."

As if to illustrate Bernstein's point, well-known gun enthusiasts Ben Affleck, Charlie Sheen, Tom Selleck and Steven Seagal wanted nothing to do with Fade In's story. Even gung-ho action director Richard Donner ("Lethal Weapon"), who has a concealed weapon permit, was reluctant to talk. "I am anything but a gun enthusiast," he said in a terse statement. "The only reason I would ever own a gun is for the protection of my home, my environment or my family under the circumstances in which I am forced to live."

Fade In says Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, music mogul Tommy Mottola and billionaire Kirk Kerkorian are among a mere 500 people licensed to carry a gun in public in Los Angeles County (pop. 9.8 million).

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Canada: Feds target gun firms for frivolous suits: "The Canadian government is looking into ways to sue U.S. gun manufacturers for the spread of illegal weapons into this country, the Toronto Star reported yesterday. The action is just one part of a multi-faceted crackdown on gun crime due to be unveiled by the end of November. The package will follow months of unusual violence in Toronto. Of the 61 homicides so far in the city this year, 41 have involved firearms. The policy will also be seen as another shot by the federal government across the bow of Canada-U.S. relations."


Anti-gun groups call for ban on crown molding: "An arrest was made today in the tragic death of the wife of famed attorney, Daniel Horowitz. A sixteen-year-old boy was arrested, and it was disclosed that the boy used crown molding to beat Horowitz's wife to death. Anti-gun groups and Democrat politicians immediately pointed to the extreme dangers of crown molding and called upon President Bush to ban all crown molding. 'This clearly shows that the president has been asleep at the wheel by allowing crown molding to proliferate around the country and cause countless tragic deaths,' said Hillary Clinton. 'No state currently requires background checks or has an age limitation for the purchase of crown molding. There is no valid reason why anyone would have a need to own crown molding. Other countries don't use crown molding. We're barbaric and backwards here in America when it comes to crown molding.'"