Rihanna sports new gun tattoo

Rex Features

Rihanna has had a controversial new tattoo depicting a gun inked on her body.

The 21-year-old singer added the weapon image as her fourth tattoo. She already has a Maori design on her right hand, stars behind her ear, and “Shhh” tattooed on her finger.

Rihanna was said to have brought tattoo artist Bang Bang out to Los Angeles from New York for her latest piece of body art. He was also put up at the famed Roosevelt Hotel by the singer, The Huffington Post has confirmed.

Bang Bang and Rihanna reportedly wanted to position two gun tattoos on each shoulder, but they both agreed to place a singular gun underneath her arms and just above her ribs.

“I really wanted to put it here...she loved ’em,” he wrote on his MySpace page. “But, Cover Girl wouldn’t have liked it much...and they pay the bills!”