Famed actor and comedian Bill Cosby, known his role as the lovable Cliff Huxtable in the television series The Cosbys, recently spoke out on the Trayvon Martin case for the first time. He says Trayvon Martin would still be alive today if it wasn’t for George Zimmerman and his gun, The Washington Times reports.

Cosby said “the gun” motivated Zimmerman to confront Martin, a 17-year-old teenager who was walking to his father’s fiancé’s home after picking up snacks from a local store.

“We’ve got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch,” he told The Washington Times. “Without a gun, I don’t see Mr. Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself.”

The “power-of-the-gun mentality,” he said, had Zimmerman unafraid to confront the teen. Cosby noted that even “police call for backup in similar situations.”

“When you carry a gun, you mean to harm somebody, kill somebody,” he said.