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Czech President Uses Fake Gun To Joke About Relationship With Journalists

REUTERS/David W Cerny

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Jacob Bojesson Foreign Correspondent
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Czech President Milos Zeman waved a fake wooden submachine gun during a press conference Friday in an apparent joke about his relationship with the media.

Zeman received the gun as a gift during a visit to the Plzen region. The gift combined several things he’s known for — his love for guns and liquor and his poor relationship with the media. The magazine was replaced with a bottle of his favorite liquor and the gun was marked with the inscription “on journalist.”

The president has joked about “liquidating” journalists in the past. He is also a vocal supporter of gun rights to combat terrorism in Europe. (RELATED: Czech President Wants Gun Rights For Europeans To Stop Terrorists)

“What can we do against international criminality? Invest in the police, invest in the army and have the courage to invest in our own guns,” Zeman said during a speech at the Council of Europe earlier this month. “My wife has a pistol. Of course, she passed all necessary tests, but now I am guarded by my wife, and not only by bodyguards.”

Zeman proposed a system similar to the U.S. with background checks and necessary tests prior to gun purchases.

“The Second Amendment to the American constitution says that everybody has the right to have a weapon — of course they must fullfil the necessary conditions and tests,” Zeman said. “We Europeans are a little more careful than the Americans, but after [the terror attack in] Barcelona and many assassinations, I think that the difference between Europeans and Americans is not so great.”

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