Peace activist Yoko Ono has entered the on-going debate over gun control laws in the U.S. by tweeting a provocative image of John Lennon’s bloodstained glasses – on what would have been the couple’s 44th wedding anniversary.

As well as the controversial image, Ono’s tweet included the message that more than a million people have been killed by guns in the U.S. since her husband was shot and killed by Mark Chapman on December 8, 1980.

Ono, 79, tweeted the image several times in quick succession on Wednesday morning along with a series of messages asking for an end to gun violence.

Iconic image: Yoko Ono has tweeted this image of John Lennon’s bloodstained glasses together with a message about how many people have been killed by guns in the U.S. since his death

Ono and Lennon, both dressed in white, with their marriage certificate after their wedding in Gibraltar on 20 March 1969 and left, Ono earlier this month

‘The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him. Yoko Ono Lennon’

Together, let’s bring back America, the green land of peace.’

‘31,537 people are killed by guns in the USA every year. We are turning this beautiful country into war zone,’ she tweeted.

Ono and Lennon were married in Gibraltar on 20 March 1969 and spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning with a week-long bed-In for peace.

The controversial image of Lennon’s bloodstained glasses, with a view of Central Park in the background, has been used by Ono before.

Ono sent a series of tweets on Wednesday morning each with a link to the iconic image

The couple spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning with a week-long Bed-In for peace. Mark Chapman, right, was convicted of murdering John Lennon in 1980

In 1981 it was the cover art for her first solo album recorded after Lennon’s murder.

Season of Glass was released less than six months after Lennon was shot by Chapman in December 1980 outside the entrance of The Dakota building, near Central Park in New York City.

Ono is known for her philanthropic contributions to arts, peace and AIDS outreach programs. In recent months she has also campaigned against the controversial drilling for natural gas from deep layers of rock known as fracking.

In January, Ono along with her son Sean Lennon and Susan Sarandon visited rural Pennsylvania in a bus under the banner of the Artists Against Fracking group.

Her tweets come the day after a significant victory for the National Rifle Association when it was announced that the U.S. Senate’s gun control bill won’t include a proposed ban on assault weapons.

Ono’s Season of Glass album was released less than six months after Lennon was shot dead by Mark Chapman in December 1980

Assault-type weapons were used last year in both the shooting sprees at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado.

Sen Dianne Feinstein, the sponsor of the ban, announced the decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The gun control bill will be debated by the Senate next month.

Asked about the decision, Reid said he wanted to bring a gun bill to the full Senate that would have enough support to overcome any GOP attempts to prevent debate from even starting.

He said that ‘using the most optimistic numbers,’ there were less than 40 votes for Feinstein’s proposed ban on assault weapons.
Read more: Daily Mail UK