Country musician Caleb Keeter, who performed with the Josh Abbott Band at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, has flipped his opinion on the right to bear arms after a massacre at the festival left nearly 60 people dead and more than 500 injured.
Keeter, the guitarist for the Josh Abbott Band, posted a lengthy message via Twitter on Monday, as the nation was coming to grips with the tragedy, stating that the event had caused him to change his mind on the 2nd Amendment.
“I’ve been a proponent of the 2nd Amendment my entire life,” Keeter wrote. “Until the events of last night, I cannot express how wrong I was. We actually have members of our crew with CHL licenses [to carry guns], and legal firearms on the bus.”
The musician noted, “They were useless.”
Keeter went on to note that the crew “couldn’t touch” the guns “for fear police might think that we were part of the massacre and shoot us.”
“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 fire power,” the musician added. “Enough is enough.”
Keeter asserted, “We need gun control RIGHT NOW,” adding, “My biggest regret is that I stubbornly didn’t realize it until my brothers on the road and myself were threatened by it.”
Dozens were killed and hundreds were injured after Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd Sunday night from his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay hotel.
Police say Paddock took his own life as they closed in on his perch on the 32d floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
Paddock, who lived in Mesquite, Nevada, is believed to have acted alone. A woman described as a companion, 62-year-old Marilou Danley has been described by authorities as a “person of interest” but is not believed to have any additional involvement.
“He was utilizing some of her identification and we’ve had conversation with her and believe her — at this time — not to be involved,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said during a press conference early Monday morning.
— Caleb Keeter (@Calebkeeter) October 2, 2017