Chris Rock's new Netflix special takes on the gun-control debate — and was released the same day as the Florida high-school shooting

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February 16, 2018 3:36 PM

The timing of Chris Rock's new Netflix special, "Tamborine," released the same day as the Florida shooting, is eerie for his tackling of the gun debate.

Chris Rock tackles the gun-control debate in his new Netflix special, "Tamborine."
It feels eerily relevant since the special was released Wednesday, the same day as the Parkland, Florida, shooting.
Some viewers on Twitter commented on the timing.

Not even 10 minutes into Chris Rock's new Netflix stand-up special, "Tamborine," viewers may have been left with an eerie feeling. About six minutes in, Rock addresses the gun debate in America.

It's not uncommon for comedians to tackle controversial issues, but the timing of Rock's routine makes this particularly relevant.

"Tamborine" became available on Netflix on Wednesday, the same day 17 people were killed in a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

"This gun s--- ain't going nowhere," Rock says in the special. "There ain't never gonna be no gun control. You talk about it too long, and you're gonna get shot."

He addresses the pro-gun argument that a knife could do damage as well.

"If 100 people ever got stabbed at the same time, in the same place, by the same person, you know what that would mean?" he asks the audience. "Ninety-seven people deserve to die."

While Rock filmed his special back in November, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, two other mass shootings rattled the US leading up to this show — the Las Vegas shooting in October that left 58 people dead at a concert and the Texas church shooting in November that left 26 dead.

Since the release of the special, viewers on Twitter have commented on the timing:

#nw Chris Rock's Tamborine ... @ Savvy Kenya

Chris Rock is right. Guns a... @ Mama+

Chris Rock: Tamborine: Holy... @ Craig Gary Phillips

It speaks to the prevalence of shootings in America that "Tamborine" feels so relevant; Rock also addressed guns in a well-known bit from his stand-up special "Bigger and Blacker" in 1999.

Rock said bullets should cost $5,000 and called it "bullet control."

"People would think before they killed somebody if a bullet cost $5,000," he said.

Chris Rock -- Bullet Control (HD)

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