Rihanna Opens Up About Why She Got Her Gun Tattoo

Think what you’d like about Rihanna’s horrible Grammys weekend of 2009 … but she’s moved on completely from that dark period in her life. And in a very candid new interview with Elle U.K., the “Stay” singer is opening up about how she feels more empowered than ever right now.

In new photos for the mag shot in Paris by Mariano Vivanco, Rihanna prominently displays the gun tattoo that she inked on the right side of her torso just months after she was beaten up by boyfriend Chris Brown. "Everybody wanted to know what was happening in my life. Is she a drug addict? No. Is she an alcoholic? No. Is she a victim? No," she tells the mag. "That's why I got the gun. It was a symbol of strength. I'll never be a victim."

And that’s not the only gun tattoo that Rihanna, who just turned 25 last week, has on her body. She also sports an Egyptian-like falcon in the shape of a gun on one of her feet, ink that she got last summer just days after Brown got in a scuffle with the rapper Drake at a NYC nightclub. “Falcon s--t!!!!” she tweeted in June 2012, following up with, “Falcon: a light that shines in the darkness! Never close their eyes during sleep.”

Rihanna talks with Elle U.K. reporter Mark Allen about how this period in her life feels like a “fresh start” with Brown, and goes on to say that in five years, she sees herself with a child … which we can only assume she’d want with her “Don’t Wake Me Up” singer beau.

"I will probably have a kid," she tells the mag. "Right now, that's just what we want, a great friendship, that's unbreakable," she continues. "Now that we're adults we can do this right. We got a fresh start and we're thankful for that."

RiRi also opens up in the interview about other topics, ranging from her music and touring, to her “now-infamous 777 plane trip” – aka: the publicity trip from hell for journalists around the world. And being that this is Elle, she talks all about her burgeoning fashion designing career.

Elle U.K.’s spread shows off RiRi’s spring/summer 2013 River Island fashion collection – her first ever -- which she premiered recently at London Fashion Week. On one cover, she dons a black, zip-through River Island skirt paired with a Louis Vuitton monochrome top. And on the other, a striped bra from the same collection peeking out from Prada’s silk and satin stole

The April issue of Elle U.K. hits newsstands on Wednesday, March 6.

More Celebrity Features On Yahoo!:

Follow omg! on Twitter