Jesse believes if everyone had guns, the Bataclan massacre last year may not have happened.
- Feb 16, 2016
AceShowbiz - Eagles of Death Metal's frontman Jesse Hughes is arguing for universal access to guns following the Bataclan massacre last year. The band were playing at the Bataclan concert hall in the French capital back in November when 90 fans were killed in a jihadist attack.
In an interview with French TV station iTele on Tuesday, February 16, Jesse said France's strict gun control laws "had nothing to do with" the attack, but he questioned whether gun control had saved any lives at the Bataclan.
"Did your French gun control stop a single fucking person from dying at the Bataclan? And if anyone can answer yes, I'd like to hear it, because I don't think so," the band's frontman shared, "I think the only thing that stopped it was some of the bravest men that I've ever seen in my life charging head-first into the face of death with their firearms."
He continued, "I know people will disagree with me, but it just seems like God made men and women, and that night guns made them equal. And I hate it that it's that way. I think the only way that my mind has been changed is that maybe that until nobody has guns everybody has to have them. Because I've never seen anyone that's ever had one dead, and I want everyone to have access to them, and I saw people die that maybe could have lived, I don't know."
In separate comments to AFP, Jesse said, "I don't go anywhere in America without a gun anymore. That sucks. And I'm not paranoid. I'm not a cowboy... but I want to be prepared."
Eagles of Death Metal is set to perform at Paris' Olympia concert hall on Tuesday night, February 16. Survivors of the Bataclan massacre were given free invitations. Jesse said he felt he had"a sacred responsibility to finish this show." He added, "Rock and roll for me has always been fun and I am not going to let anyone take that away from me, or my friends."
