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Frontman of band caught in Paris massacre says everyone should be armed

Workers set up ahead of last night's concert by Eagles of Death Metal, at the Olympia music hall, in Paris
Workers set up ahead of last night's concert by Eagles of Death Metal, at the Olympia music hall, in Paris

Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes says he believes that everyone should be armed.

He was speaking last night ahead of the band's return to Paris, saying he felt a "sacred" responsibility to finish the band's show that was interrupted by gunfire.

Islamic extremists massacred 89 people at the band's November 13 performance at the Bataclan, which has been closed since the attacks across the French capital that left 130 dead and 350 others wounded.

"There's been just such an outpouring of support for us and love for us. It's overwhelming. I just don't want to let anyone down," Hughes said of the band's upcoming performance at the Olympia Theatre in Paris on Tuesday.

He made the remarks during an emotional interview with iTELE's Laurence Ferrari on Monday.

"This show I'm supposed to put up like a barrier against anything that's not fun and that we're really just supposed to have fun there tomorrow," Hughes said while breaking down into tears.

He told iTELE that he has been unable to control his emotions since the attacks.

"I haven't had any nightmares and I've slept fine but when I'm awake is when I see things that are nightmares," he said.

Asked if the trauma he and others experienced has changed his views on gun control, Hughes, co-founder of the band, said he believes everyone should be armed.

"I think the only way that my mind has been changed is that maybe until nobody has guns everybody has to have them. Because I don't ever want to see anything like this ever happen again and I want everyone to have the best chance to live and I saw people die that maybe could have lived," he said.

"I wish I knew for sure if they could have had a better chance because there were some real angels, real wonderful people in that show that aren't alive today and I really wish they were."