Devil You Know's Howard Jones on 'touchy' gun control issue

A picture of Howard Jones
Howard Jones

Devil You Know frontman Howard Jones says believes in some level of gun control – despite his band having signed up to work with TV show Legally Armed America.

It was announced last month that the band’s music will soundtrack the pro-gun series which is broadcast on US television, with Jones saying the deal was “an extension of our support for firearms and the outdoors.”

Now the vocalist has told Metal Hammer that, although he supports people’s right to bear arms, he does believe in sensible regulation.

Jones says: “I understand that it’s a touchy subject, of course it is. A lot of horrible things happen, a lot of good things happen. There’s going to be violence whether you’ve got a gun, or a knife or a rock or whatever. But this isn’t an easy subject. I get it.”

“I mean, I do believe you have the right, but I do also believe there should be some different laws in place. Do I need a semi-automatic weapon to protect my front lawn? Nah. How many people are attacking my house exactly? I mean, do I need an Uzi to protect my front lawn? No. It’s obvious with this much stuff going on in our country that it needs to be regulated.”

Jones adds that he is keen fisherman and that he believes hunting is a good thing, both for people and the environment.

“In the mid-west, Deer are an epidemic,” he says. “They have to be hunted. So there is legal hunting. I’m a fan of people that hunt and eat what they kill. I’m a fisherman for god sake.

“It would be pretty ironic of me to speak out against that. And I don’t think you can paint people so easily. A lot of times hunters will kill a deer and donate it to a homeless shelter. That’s a great source of food, that’s a great service for those less fortunate.

“But people that hunt elephants and have those big trophies up on their wall? I’m not a fan of that. That’s why I like fishing, it’s all about catch and release. Don’t keep it if you’re not going to eat it.

“I don’t have a problem with hunters and I don’t have a problem with people that are real. I mean, listen, I’m really not the guy to go to with sorting out the problems of the world. I’m just a lowly musician. Does anyone really care what I have to say? But it does seem that it’s kind of crazy right now. History has periods of war and it had periods or peace. It’s a troubled time right now. It would be good if we felt like we could take a step back and consider things more.”

Earlier this year, Devil You Know announced they’d tour the UK and Russia early in the new year. The dates will mark the last of their touring cycle in support of their second album They Bleed Red.

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.