Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes: More gun access would've saved lives
In an emotional interview with French TV station iTELE, he was asked if the trauma he and others experienced has changed his views on gun control, Hughes, co-founder of the band, said he believes everyone should be armed.
Islamic extremists massacred 89 people at the band’s November 13 performance at the Bataclan, which has been closed since the attacks across the French capital that left 130 dead and 350 others wounded.
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Hide Ad“Did your French gun control stop a single f***ing person from dying at the Bataclan? And if anyone can answer yes, I’d like to hear it, because I don’t think so. 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.
“I know people will disagree with me, but it just seems like God made men and women, and that night guns made them equal,” he said. “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.”
“I think the only way that my mind has been changed is that maybe until nobody has guns everybody has to have them. Because I don’t ever want to see anything like this ever happen again and I want everyone to have the best chance to live and I saw people die that maybe could have lived,” he said.
“I wish I knew for sure if they could have had a better chance because there were some real angels, real wonderful people in that show that aren’t alive today and I really wish they were.”
He also said he felt a “sacred” responsibility to finish the band’s show that was interrupted by gunfire.
“There’s been just such an outpouring of support for us and love for us. It’s overwhelming. I just don’t want to let anyone down,” Hughes said of the band’s upcoming performance at the Olympia Theatre in Paris on Tuesday.
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Hide Ad“This show I’m supposed to put up like a barrier against anything that’s not fun and that we’re really just supposed to have fun there tomorrow,” Hughes said while breaking down into tears.
He told iTELE that he has been unable to control his emotions since the attacks.
“I haven’t had any nightmares and I’ve slept fine but when I’m awake is when I see things that are nightmares,” he said.