In a tearful interview, Jesse Hughes, the lead singer of the Eagles of Death Metal rock band, wept over the terrorist attack that killed 89 people at the concert where the band had performed. He also touched on the issue of gun control.
Eagles of Death Metal is set to perform in Paris on Tuesday, marking its return after the deadly November 13 attack when terrorists stormed the Bataclan concert hall while the American band played. The coordinated attacks targeted the theater and six other locations throughout the city and left 130 dead in the worst terror attack in modern French history.
In an interview with the French channel iTELE, Hughes called the band’s return to Paris a “sacred duty.”
When asked about his stance on guns, Hughes said, “Did your French gun control stop a single f****** 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 headfirst into the face of death with their firearms.”
France has strict gun control laws with heavy restrictions and licensing requirements.
Hughes said that guns were the equalizer the night of the terror attacks.
“I hate it that it’s that way,” he said. “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 don’t want to ever see something like this happen again.”
ISIS claimed responsibility for the terror attacks, which struck three months ago.
Eagles of Death Metal will finish the set at the Olympia Hall in the French capital. Choking back tears, Hughes said: “I just don’t want to let anyone down.”
“I can’t let the bad guys win.”
