Carrey
Jim Carrey has distanced himself from the violence in "Kick-Ass 2." Reuters

Embroiled in a running war of words with Fox News and gun zealots, the normally manic Jim Carrey took off his zany mask this week and posted a surprisingly earnest response to his conservative critics.

In a Huffington Post blog on Tuesday titled “I Never Wanted to Take Your Guns Away,” the rubbery-faced actor wrote that “bullies” were trying to marginalize his message by viciously attacking him online over a satirical pro-gun-control video he’d posted last week on Funny or Die.

“These thugs, though menacing, are a minority, but they will have their way if good people don’t step forward now and make a difference,” Carrey wrote. “Every American has the right to speak their mind."

The Canadian-born Carrey became a naturalized American citizen in 2004. In the blog post, he wrote that recent gun massacres in Colorado and Connecticut should serve as an invitation for a civilized debate on gun reform in the United States, adding that we shouldn’t “shut our eyes and ears and scream at those with a different opinion than ours to ‘f--k off and go back to Canada.’”

Carrey stirred the ire of gun advocates on March 24 when he posted the Funny or Die video “Cold Dead Hand,” which pokes fun at the National Rifle Association and the gun zealotry of the late Charlton Heston. The video has since attracted almost 3 million views, earning it Funny or Die’s esteemed “Chosen One” status. But it also garnered a swift response from pundits on Fox News, who spent several days mocking the “Kick Ass” star.

“He is probably the most pathetic tool on the face of the earth, and I hope his career is dead, and I hope he ends up sleeping in a car,” said Fox personality Greg Gutfeld on “The Five.”

Carrey eventually fired back, releasing a snarky statement in which he referred to the News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) cable network as “a media colostomy bag that has begun to burst at the seams.”

Fury directed at Carrey continued, however, particularly on Twitter, where conservatives berated him throughout the weekend. On eBay, meanwhile, some conservatives sold Jim Carrey memorabilia, promising to use the money to raise funds for the NRA and other pro-gun causes, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

But Carrey’s HuffPost response on Tuesday took a decidedly more tempered tone than we’re used to seeing from the man who talked through his buttocks in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.”

“I would trade my money, my fame, my reputation and legacy if there were the slightest chance of preventing the anguish of another Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, or Sandy Hook Elementary School,” Carrey wrote. “I ask you, truly, what manner of human being would not?”

Of course, few conservatives seem to be buying Carrey’s earnestness. On Breitbart’s Big Hollywood blog Tuesday, Christian Toto wrote that the actor’s sudden can’t-we-all-just-get-along attitude was too little, too late.

“Carrey called gun rights supporters ‘heartless mother--kers,’” Toto wrote. “He used his media pals to promote a song attacking a dead man, actor Charlton Heston, who obviously cannot defend himself. He savaged Fox News, an outlet which dares to add conservative voices to the media mix.”

Carrey wrote on HuffPost that he is not advocating for an end to the Second Amendment, just reasonable restrictions. Agree or not, you can read his full blog post here.

Got a news tip? Send me an email. Follow me on Twitter: @christopherzara