Rapper TI

Rapper TI

Rapper T.I. prefers to spend his time off with his family instead of in the clubs - because he doesn't feel safe without a gun.

The Live Your Life hitmaker, real name Clifford Harris, Jr., recently completed a stint behind bars for illegal weapons possession after he was caught buying an arsenal of firearms from an undercover U.S. federal agent in 2007.

The hip-hop star claimed he acquired the guns because he feared assassination after his assistant and close friend, Philant Johnson, was gunned down in May 2006. As a convicted felon, T.I. is banned from owning a firearm - so he chooses to stay at home at night to avoid any potential trouble.

He tells Complex magazine, "I don't go out as much... I'm just uncomfortable having no tool. Even when I have security. I'm more comfortable knowing there's one around - but not having one myself, being used to having one for so long and being in places and around people that I know got 'em, I'm just uncomfortable. So I stay out of that environment as much as possible."