Country music star Jason Aldean signaled in a new interview he believes background checks for firearm purchases should be strengthened.
Aldean, who was performing on stage when a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas in October, spoke to the Associated Press about the country’s gun laws in an interview published Monday.
“It’s too easy to get guns, first and foremost. 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?” Aldean told the Associated Press. “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.”
Aldean hasn’t spoken publicly about the country’s gun laws since the Oct. 1 shooting, where 59 people were killed and hundreds were injured.
“It’s a no-win situation,” he said. “I think no matter what you say, whether you’re for gun control or not, I mean, you’re setting yourself up to be crucified in the public eye or in the media.”
Though Aldean conceded there are some measures that need to be addressed, he said he fears shootings like the incident in Las Vegas are used to score political points.
“Nobody is looking at what the actual issue is and really how to come to an agreement and make a smart decision,” Aldean said.
Since the Oct. 1 shooting, the country singer has returned to Las Vegas to visit victims in the hospital. Aldean said he now feels a tie to the survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., where 17 were killed.
“Unless anybody has witnessed anything like that or been a part of it, it’s really hard for people to really understand where you’re coming from on that stuff,” he said. “It’s like the kids from the school in Florida, that shooting. I get it, man. I understand how they are feeling.”
