Lynyrd Skynyrd Members Talk 'God and Guns' with Hannity on FNC

On Friday’s Hannity show on FNC, host Sean Hannity showed a pre-recorded interview in which he was joined by members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd – Johnny Van Zandt, Rickey Medlocke and Gary Rossington – as the group talked about their latest CD, titled "God and Guns," and the three expressed their support for such conservative values as belief in God and the Second Amendment right of gun ownership. Medlocke alluded to the importance of being armed if one must face an intruder at home during the night. Medlocke:

But we believe in God, a higher power. And the guns is, is really our freedom of choice. Like you said, the Second Amendment. But we should be able to do what the Second Amendment says. And we should be able to have the right to own and protect our own in our home because if somebody breaks in your home at 3:45 in the morning, they're not there to have coffee with you. That's for sure.

Van Zandt later complained about the elimination of prayer from public schools:

We were out in California and we were watching the news, and superintendent arrested for kids praying in school. Hey, when we were kids, we said the Pledge of Allegiance because we were proud of this country, and we said prayer. You know, we thanked the good Lord above.

Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Friday, October 9, Hannity show on FNC:

SEAN HANNITY: They are one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, they're still selling out venues across the country. Now, their brand-new CD "God and Guns" is available. Now, I recently sat down with Johnny Van Zant, Rickey Medlocke and Gary Rossington to talk about their new CD and to reveal a major announcement that I'm very proud of. First of all, congrats on the new CD. You know, you really hold them back. "God and Guns."

RICKEY MEDLOCKE, LYNYRD SKYNYRD: Yeah, we held that back. That was just for you.

HANNITY: Well, listen, that's Hannity: You know, God, faith, family, country. That's what I believe in, and I'm a big believer in the Second Amendment. This is a powerful CD that you all put out. And we have, by the way, our big announcement is coming in a second. Because I've been a Skynyrd fan since I'm a little kid. But this is a pretty powerful album. And it says a lot because you guys are really got a strong message in this album.

GARY ROSSINGTON, LYNYRD SKYNYRD: Well, it’s just like you said, we believe in the Second Amendment, and we believe in God. I thank every day that I'm still here. And we just, you know, the song speaks for itself. But people hear the song, they'll know what we're saying.

JOHNNY VAN ZANDT, LYNYRD SKYNYRD: It’s the only song actually that we did not write on this CD. But our management brought it in. And it was just a guy with an acoustic guitar and the words and the meaning of it was so it hit us, hit home with us, and we said there's our album. There's our album title. This is what we stand for, you know?

HANNITY: Yeah, and that's what's Skynyrd's signature. You know, you guys have always done this.

MEDLOCKE: Well, we knew that going into it that when we named the album-

HANNITY: You've got, you got that mischievous young grin. And, by the way, there's a great story about how you-

MEDLOCKE: I love how he cuts me off. Go ahead. No, go ahead. I want to hear this.

HANNITY: You're not even a liberal. I usually only cut off liberals. By the way, any of you big Obama supporters, any liberal Democrats in this band?

MEDLOCKE: Like I said, going into this record-

VAN ZANDT: You know what? We do have a few Democrats in this band.

HANNITY: You do?

VAN ZANDT: Yeah, yeah. Not here tonight, but, you know.

MEDLOCKE: But going into the record, we knew that calling it that was going to cause some controversy. And it has. And the best way we know how to answer is just like Gary and Johnny says. I mean, this is something that we really believe in, and saying "God and Guns," we believe that what it stands for really is whatever you believe in, the God part, you know, your God might be different than my God. But we believe in God, a higher power. And the guns is, is really our freedom of choice. Like you said, the Second Amendment. But we should be able to do what the Second Amendment says. And we should be able to have the right to own and protect our own in our home, because if somebody breaks in your home at 3:45 in the morning, they're not there to have coffee with you. That's for sure.

VAN ZANDT: We have a lot of friends who are hunters. And you know what? Come hunting season, man, they head to the woods, you know. And again, this country was built on God and guns, folks. I mean, it really was.

HANNITY: And, by the way, Second Amendment rights are in jeopardy. There are a lot of people that want to take away the right.

VAN ZANDT: We just were on the bus, where were we at? We were out in California and we were watching the news. And superintendent arrested for kids praying in school. Hey, when we were kids, we said the Pledge of Allegiance because we were proud of this country, and we said prayer. You know, we thanked the good Lord above.

HANNITY: We've now done these Freedom Concerts. We do it to raise money for the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, which is for the children of these slain heroes. These guys go off and fight for our liberty, for our freedom, for my right to have a big mouth on TV and radio, for you guys to produce "God and Guns" and sing the songs you love. And so we, you know, we kind of forget these kids that left behind that don't have their moms and dads, so we put these concerts together. And last year was a record. We did eight shows.