Stevie Nicks has shared an emotional statement on gun control, calling on lawmakers to “make it really hard” for people to buy guns.
Nicks is the latest musician to speak out after last week’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. On Tuesday, May 24, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School, which teaches children aged seven to 10. Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed that the suspect was later shot dead by responding law enforcement officials.
“My hope for this country is that the lawmakers just find a way to make buying an assault rifle — more difficult,” Nicks’ length statement began. “There is just no reason to have a gun that would disintegrate a deer — or a small animal, if you are, indeed, an honourable hunter.
“When those guns go into the hands of obviously disturbed people, it gives them a sense of unbelievable power that they have never felt before. Power, used in a bad way, is the opposite of ‘power’ used in a good way. Once people have felt the power of those guns, they are never the same. They are addicted. And then there is no turning back. So don’t give them that power. Make it really hard for them to get that gun.”
Nicks added: “No one is trying to take away guns from people who get them for a good reason. Guns are not toys. Background checks are not that hard.
“Do you want to go down in the history books as being responsible for these school shootings that will inevitably continue, or do you want to be remembered as the people who finally gathered together in unity and empathy — as the people who stopped it,” she added in the powerful statement, which you can read in full below.
— Stevie Nicks (@StevieNicks) June 1, 2022
Nicks has joined the likes of Taylor Swift, Madonna, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers and Olivia Rodrigo in expressing his anger and calling for stricter gun control laws in light of the Robb Elementary School shooting.
“I cannot imagine the heartache and heartbreak the parents of these 19 children must feel,” Madonna wrote on social media alongside a clip from her 2019 ‘God Control’ music video.
The pop icon went on to urge lawmakers to “protect our children”, asking them to “reduce firearm access to people who are at risk of harming themselves or others”.
Matthew McConaughey, meanwhile, visited his hometown of Uvalde last Friday (May 27) to console the community following the shooting.
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