London, Mar 28 : Barbadian singer Rihanna's tattooist has defended the controversial decision of a gun on her body.

The 21-year-old singer was spotted sporting the new tattoo on the side of her body, but her tattooist BangBang has claimed that it was all his idea, and insists that it is a symbol of protection and not violence.

"I'm a big advocate of guns. So I said, `How about a gun?'" the Sun quoted him as saying.

"I printed out a picture of a gun that I thought would look good, and she loved it.

"It's powerful. It's protection. At least that's my interpretation of it," he added. (ANI)