Miranda Lambert: Gun Control Debate Won’t Draw Singer Into Political Firestorm

One of the most widely-debated hot-button issues in the country today, of course, is gun control. But just because her albums include such songs as 'Gunpowder and Lead' and 'Time to Get a Gun,' that doesn't mean Miranda Lambert relishes the idea of finding herself in the crossfire of such heated discourse, knowing as she does that sharing one's personal opinion on a highly-politicized topic could mean trouble for your career.

"I pretty much will answer any questions with a truthful answer, because that's just how I am," Miranda tells The Boot. "But when it comes to any sort of political debate or anything revolving around politics, I'm a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks and I saw what happened and I learned from that. I don't want to ever use my career or this thing that I've built as a platform to sway people to my direction, because, truthfully, I don't care. I just want to believe what I believe and be happy, and people can believe what they believe. I don't ever want to push my opinion on someone because I don't want them pushing their opinion on me."

Miranda believes that having politicians and pundits argue over gun-control legislation only goes so far.

"You can debate all you want, it won't really change anything," she notes. "It's such a sensitive subject with everybody. I feel like there are people that should be willing to give -- to meet in the middle -- that aren't, and vice versa. Obviously, I have my concealed handgun carry license, I'm pro on guns and I'm a hunter, so for me, that's what I use guns for, protection and hunting. I've always been that way, it's the way I grew up. But some people don't feel like they need guns and that's their prerogative. But I do think that we should each have a choice of one or the other."

Perhaps no single aspect of the gun-control issue sparks more debate that whether or not to enact a ban on assault weapons, another topic on which she refuses to engage.

"I don't ever talk politics," she explains. "That's now become a political debate. It doesn't matter what I say, I feel like I'll piss somebody off. All I know is you can pretty much see where I stand on everything. I have two guns tattooed on my arm, that's all I need to say."

On May 7, Miranda and her friends Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe will fire another shot with the second Pistol Annies album, 'Annie Up.' That same month, she returns to the road with fellow country superstar Dierks Bentley on the Locked and Reloaded tour.

Click here to read our chat with Miranda on her animal rescue efforts, and here to read her inside scoop on the Locked and Reloaded tour.