Guitarist Caleb Keeter was playing with his Josh Abbott Band on stage in Las Vegas just hours before hell broke loose. The artist witnessed the massacre with incredulous eyes before he fled the place himself. Although he is safe, Keeter confessed that he now has a different view on gun control.
The Las Vegas Shooter Had No Prior Criminal Charges Yet a Large Arsenal of Firearms
On Sunday, an American citizen became the author of a terrible act of gun violence. Stephen Paddock was a 64-year-old retired accountant who recorded no significant criminal charges whatsoever in his life. However, on Sunday night he checked himself in a 32nd-floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
From the window of this room, he started fire in the crowd attending a festival of country music in Las Vegas. He alone killed 59 people and injured other 527 festival goers. Police agents broke down his door only to find him dead from a presumably self-inflicted gunshot.
The man was in possession of 23 firearms. His car contained several pounds of ammonium nitrate which is used for explosives. Furthermore, officials found around 19 weapons at Paddock’s home.
Guitarist Caleb Keeter Urged His Twitter Community to Advocate for Gun Control
As law authorities believe the mass shooter was acting alone, the national tragedy raises questions about gun control. While the letter of the law is permissive when it comes to citizens protecting themselves with firearms, this can also turn against them.
The Las Vegas shooting revealed how much firepower a single person can purchase in the U.S. Experts are also urging authorities to treat gun violence as a health hazard.
“I’ve been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong I was.”
These were the sentiments of festival guitarist Caleb Keeter and maybe of many others as well. The artist twitted that as a believer in gun rights, he and his group had legal firearms in their car.
However, their assets proved to be useless. Keeter realized that his weapons cannot stop the mass shooting and felt helpless. As a consequence, the once firm believer in gun rights started promoting the necessity of gun control.
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