An image shared on Facebook claims British musician and singer Ozzy Osbourne once said, “If guns kill people, why do we send people with guns when they go to war?”

Facebook/Post

Verdict: False

There is no record of Osbourne making this statement. The alleged quote appears to be an alteration of a statement he did make about guns in a 1998 interview with The New York Times.

Fact Check:

Osbourne is an English singer and songwriter who first rose to prominence in the 1970s, according to Britannica. An image shared on Facebook claims to show a statement he made in support of gun rights.

The image shows a photo of Osbourne along with a quote attributed to him that reads, “If guns kill people, why do we send people with guns when they go to war? Why not just send the guns?”

The purported statement began circulating on social media in the wake of a series of mass shootings in the U.S., including a May 14 shooting at a Buffalo supermarket and a May 24 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

There is, however, no record of Osbourne making this statement. It does not appear on any of his verified social media accounts nor on his website. Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to corroborate the authenticity of the alleged quote.

The quote appears to be an altered version of a real comment he made in a 1998 interview with The New York Times. When asked about “the recent epidemic of violent youth” he responded by saying, in part, “America doesn’t need as many guns! I keep hearing this [expletive] thing that guns don’t kill people, but people kill people. If that’s the case, why do we give people guns when they go to war? Why not just send the people?”

Notably, this quote is structurally similar to the quote featured in the Facebook post but appears to be suggesting the opposite claim. (RELATED: Did Joe Biden Say The Government Would ‘Gather Up Every Gun In America’?)

Check Your Fact has reached out to Osbourne’s team and will update this piece accordingly if a response is received.