On October 1, 2017 while Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the unimaginable happened. 58 people in the audience were killed by a mass shooter, and over 500 more were injured.
Since then, the debate on gun control has come to the forefront and countless celebrities have spoken out about it, including country stars. Tim McGraw spoke out last month thanking Dick’s Sporting Goods for taking a stand against gun violence after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
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McGraw sparked a huge debate on social media with this tweet, allowing both sides to offer up their views. Some celebrities have found that no matter what stance you take, you are often going to get chastised just for speaking out, and Jason Aldean is done being silent.
He spoke with Billboard recently and talked everything from visiting survivors in the hospital and his stance on gun reform.
“Going back to the hospital, going back to Vegas and seeing those people. Seeing some of the strength they were having. People laid up in the hospital and smiling and laughing and just being glad they were alive. That sort of stuff helped me to look at it in a different view. Those people are here and pushing on,” he said.
Since the shooting, Aldean has not said much about the gun control debate, but he has finally revealed his true feelings on the topic.
“It’s too easy to get guns, first and foremost,” Aldean, an avid hunter and gun owner, said. “When you can walk in somewhere and you can get one in 5 minutes, do a background check that takes 5 minutes, like how in-depth is that background check? Those are the issues I have. It’s not necessarily the guns themselves or that I don’t think people should have guns. I have a lot of them.”
He concluded the interview by saying, “Nobody is looking at what the actual issue is and really how to come to an agreement and make a smart decision.”
Aldean will be returning to Las Vegas this weekend to perform at the 52nd ACM Awards on Sunday, April 15, where he is up for Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. Take a listen to his latest single, “You Make It Easy,” in the video below.
What do you think of Jason Aldean’s stance on the gun control debate? Let us know in the comments.