Ian Somerhalder: 'The Vampire Diaries' actor encourages people to raise voices on gun violence issue, teases on CW TV series’ new season

“The Vampire Diaries” actor Ian Somerhalder makes use of social media and his celebrity status in raising awareness about environmental issues and animals. Somerhalder, 36, has shared a video on Facebook that expresses his thoughts on another important public issue following the Oregon shooting incident.

MTV News reports Somerhalder encourages people to raise their voices on the gun violence issue through the live Facebook he created on Friday, Oct. 2, while in between takes on “The Vampire Diaries” set in Atlanta, Georgia. Somerhalder also requests the students to fight for the implementation of a stricter gun control.

“I don’t know if anyone [else] is so sick and tired of schools being bombarded with bullets and guns. There’s no need to make our educational institutions dangerous places. This stops right now, today. Raise your voices,” Somerhalder declared in his live Facebook video. Click here to watch. The TVD star created the motivating video to take into consideration the tragic mass shooting that recently happened in Oregon.

Belfast Telegraph reports that a 20-year-old male entered the premises of Umpqua Community College and started to shoot at staff and students that left 13 dead and approximately 20 others wounded. Aside from the gun violence issue, Somerhalder’s Facebook video also encouraged the students to take part in the “Know Tomorrow” event which is a college-student centric action on climate change.

A Facebook Q&A session has also been added to the already busy schedule of the TVD star. On Monday night, Oct. 5, Somerhalder took the time to respond to some fan questions about “The Vampire Diaries” Season 7.

Somerhalder confirmed that he will be directing another episode in “The Vampire Diaries” Season 7 around Christmas time. When the CW TV series returns, Somerhalder teased that the fans can expect to see Damon Salvatore with his dark side again just like in the pilot season because of the spell that put his girlfriend Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) in a lengthy slumber.

As for Damon’s relationship with his brother, Somerhalder teased that Damon and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) will not always agree on things but the two will always have each other’s backs. “The Vampire Diaries” Season 7 premieres on Thursday night, Oct. 8, at 8/7c on the CW Network.

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