A horrifyingly tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas took place on Sunday evening, in which a gunman fired at an audience of the outdoor Route 91 Harvest country music festival from an overlooking hotel. With 59 people dead and over 500 injured, this counts as the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. After the tragedy, many people got ahold of social media to express their grief and to send out thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families, as well as to once again open the discussion on gun control in the United States.
Just like the Bataclan terrorist attack, or the recent bomb at the Ariana Grande concert, this attack was also carried out at a music venue, which is why many musicians decided to share their thoughts about this matter online. Below, you can read up on what Simple Plan sent out as an official statement from the whole band, and also what Sebastien and Chuck posted on their own social media channels:
I can’t even begin to imagine the terrifying fear, panic and horror everyone must have felt last night at the Route 91 Harvest show. From Jason Aldean and his band playing on stage to security and festival personnel, music fans, police officers, crew people, first responders…this was everyone’s worst nightmare playing out in real life.
I would like to send my deepest condolences to every family affected by this tragic and senseless act of violence, all my love and support for the wounded fighting for their lives and strength and courage to those who had to live through such a traumatizing event.
Ever since the Bataclan terrorist attack and the suicide bombing at the Ariana Grande’s show in Manchester, it seems concerts and music have become the new target for these types of attacks & it’s absolutely mind-boggling to think this might be considered our new “normal”. Shows and festivals should be a safe place for anyone who feels the need to escape, sing along and dance together with other music fans, & it breaks my heart that it’s maybe not the case anymore. I hope we can change that.
While it’s extremely challenging to predict and prevent actions like these, especially when they come from a “lone-wolf” type of perpetrator, with no previous criminal convictions or political affiliations, as it seems to be the case with this attack, there is something we can do to help reduce the risk of more mass shootings in the future: restrict access to weapons and demand tougher laws on guns.
There’s a proven, direct correlation with the number of weapons in a country & the number of gun casualties to its people. The Vegas shooter had over 20 semi-automatic weapons in his hotel room, notably 2 AR-15, a military-grade model designed for the US Army. These type of weapons should be banned. It’s quite ironic to hear politicians send their “prayers” when they have blood on their hands supporting the insane policies of the NRA & claiming to protect the 2nd amendment. Prayers are not enough – it’s time for things to change. #GunControl”