Why Jason Aldean Is Staying Out of the Gun Control Debate
It's been six months since Jason Aldean was just a few songs into his set at the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas strip, and was interrupted in the worst way: A gunman killed 58 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Despite his close presence to the tragedy, Aldean doesn't feel it's his place to weigh in on gun control. “I’m not a politician,” he tells EW, in the new issue that hit stands Friday (Mar. 23).
“I’m not trying to push my own agenda. If I say that I believe this, I’m gonna piss off half of the people, and if I say I believe that, I’m gonna piss off the other half. I have my opinions, but what the hell do I know?
"I think everybody needs to sit down, stop pushing their own agendas, and figure out what will make it safer," he continues. "When people can’t go to a damn movie or a concert and not worry about somebody shooting the place up, there’s a flaw in the system.”
While he won't take a stand on his own merit, Aldean does have a suggestion: "I think part of the issue is kids at home playing virtual reality games where they’re shooting people all day," he says. "They sit down for hours and hours, and that starts to become actual reality. Get out and throw a ball, you know what I’m saying?"
Aldean had the majority of his upcoming Rearview Town album completed before the massacre in Vegas, and the singer is dedicating the project to the victims of the tragedy.
"We did dedicate that record to the victims and the people that were there," Aldean says (quote via the Boot). "That was just something I wanted to do on a personal note, for me."
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