Tim McGraw, Faith Hill: U.S. Needs ‘Common Sense’ Gun Control Laws
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill offered support for “common sense” gun control measures in a new interview with Billboard.
“Look, I’m a bird hunter – I love to wing-shoot,” McGraw said. “However, there is some common sense that’s necessary when it comes to gun control. They want to make it about the Second Amendment every time it’s brought up. It’s not about the Second Amendment.”
“In reference to the tragedy in Las Vegas, we knew a lot of people there,” Hill added. “The doctors that [treated] the wounded, they saw wounds like you’d see in war. That’s not right. Military weapons should not be in the hands of civilians. It’s everyone’s responsibility, including the government and the National Rifle Association, to tell the truth. We all want a safe country.”
In the weeks after the horrific attack at Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest fest that left 58 country music fans killed and more than 500 wounded, the traditionally close relationship between the NRA and country stars has shown signs of unravelling. When contacted by Rolling Stone, multiple country singers featured on the organization’s NRA Country website either refused to comment about their relationship with the NRA or clarified that they were not currently associated with the organization. Rosanne Cash published an op-ed in The New York Times encouraging country artists to distance themselves from the NRA, and Caleb Keeter, guitarist for the Josh Abbot Band, publicly proclaimed his longtime anti-gun control stance was misguided.
However, few mainstream country stars – i.e., ones with hits on radio – have been willing to take a public stance at odds with the NRA.
McGraw and Hill’s new album, The Rest of Our Life, is due out on November 17th.