Country Musician Changes Gun Control Position Following Las Vegas Shooting

A guitarist in the Josh Abbott Band, a Texas country band that played the festival at which a mass shooting in Las Vegas left at least 59 people dead and hundreds of others injured, shared on Twitter that the event has changed his position on gun control. Caleb Keeter wrote that in the wake of the tragedy — which has been named the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history — Americans “need gun control right now.”

“I’ve been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong I was,” he wrote to his 8,000 followers Monday. “We actually have members of our crew with CHL licences, and legal firearms on the bus. They were useless.”

Keeter wrote that he and his band “couldn’t touch [the guns]” out of fear that police would perceive them to be part of the attack and kill them. He added that the shooter “laid waste to a city with dedicated, fearless police officers desperately trying to help, because of access to an insane amount of [firepower].

“Enough is enough.”

The country music star said that the rounds fired into the crowd had enough power that the band’s crew members who were in close proximity to the victim were struck by shrapnel.

“We need gun control RIGHT. NOW. My biggest regret is that I stubbornly didn’t realize it until my brothers on the road and myself were threatened by it,” Keeter wrote. “We are unbelievably fortunate to not be among the number of victims killed or seriously wounded by this maniac.”

Responding to a Twitter user who wrote that “it’s frustrating that some don't call the fire dept until the blaze is at their own front door,” Keeter responded: “You are all absolutely correct. I saw this happening for years and did nothing. But I'd like to do what I can now.”

Dozens of concertgoers were killed and more than 500 people were injured after a gunman opened fire on the crowd from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, which neighbored the Las Vegas Village where the Route 91 Harvest festival was being held.

Police on Monday named Stephen Paddock, 64, from Mesquite, Nevada, as the gunman. According to reports, authorities found more than 40 firearms in his home and hotel room, some of which included explosives.