The mass shooting that claimed dozens of lives during an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas this weekend has left one of the event’s performers with a different opinion on gun control.
Caleb Keeter, a guitarist for the Josh Abbott Band, is calling for stricter gun laws after nearly being killed following his performance Sunday at the Route 91 Harvest fest on the Las Vegas Strip.
“I’ve been a proponent of the 2nd Amendment my whole life,” Mr. Keeter said in a statement shared through his Twitter account Monday. “Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong I was.”
“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,” his statement said.
Mr. Keeter had performed at the festival several hours before Jason Aldean’s headlining set was cut short when Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing at least 59 people and injuring hundreds of others, according to police.
“We actually have members of our crew with [concealed handgun licenses] licenses, and legal firearms on the bus,” Mr. Keeter wrote. “They were useless.
“We couldn’t touch them for fear police might think we were part of the massacre and shoot us,” the guitarist said. “A small group [or one man] 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,” he added. “Writing my parents and the love of my life a goodbye last night and a living will because I felt like I wasn’t going to live through the night was enough for me to realize that this is completely and totally out of hand.”
Mr. Keeter’s statement was retweeted more than 50,000 times within 24 hours.
Sunday’s massacre ended after authorities stormed Paddock’s hotel suite and discovered his lifeless body and an arsenal consisting of over a dozen high-powered firearms including scope-equipped rifles. An additional 19 guns and several thousands rounds of ammunition were later found at his home about an hour away in Mesquite, Arizona, police said Monday.
Authorities are examining the conditions under which Paddock acquired the arsenal, police said.
“We will be talking about gun laws as time goes by,” President Trump said Tuesday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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