Tom Araya, the bassist and vocalist of the band Slayer, recently let his fans in Switzerland know just how he feels about political issues — namely, the Second Amendment.

“Where you are in the world, you need to protect yourselves. Not from each other, but from invaders. And you know what I’m talking about, right? You should be aware of your invaders. People that come here to do you harm,” he said.

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His passionate comments came while on world tour with his thrash metal group, which performed songs from its most recent album, “Relentless.” And they came while the group was playing at the Z7 Konzertfabrik venue in Pratteln, Switzerland — a country with one of the highest rates of gun ownership.

The beautiful country on the sunny side of the Alps has often been hailed as having one of the more successful gun policies worldwide. The Swiss Weapons Act requires a license for purchasing handguns, a carrying license, and a ban on automatic weapons, according to the Library of Congress website. But guns are everywhere.

Sharpshooting is considered a wholesome recreational activity and there is a general acceptance and pride in gun ownership. It’s not unusual to see guns carried openly on bikes or buses.

And with that plethora of firearms, gun homicides are reported around 0.5 per 100,000 residents in 2010, according to Time. The U.S. rate in the same year was about 5 firearm killings per 100,000 people, according to a 2011 U.N. report.

The country’s gun law success has sparked debate concerning the emulation of such a policy in the U.S.

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“You should be able to protect and defend your country. That’s the way it should be everywhere,” Araya said. “Because when you don’t have anything to protect yourself or your fellow countrymen, what happens? People f***ing die. They do, don’t they?”

Araya’s stage comments are just the latest in an ongoing gun law battle on the heels of recent shootings, from the Orlando massacre to a German movie theater attack to Tuesday’s terrorist strike in Istanbul.

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The Slayer frontman is not the only musician to voice convictions surrounding gun control, but he is an unlikely pro-gun advocate in his typically liberal industry. Recently, 200 musicians took the opposite stance by signing a letter to Congress from publisher Billboard, advocating for increased gun control laws.

Araya’s commentary came right before the band’s performance of their song, “Mandatory Suicide,” which frequently mentions guns and heavy bloodshed.

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“I’m not gonna name names, but you can see what’s going on in other countries. ‘Cause they can’t protect themselves. And that’s what I’m talking about: being able to protect yourself and your fellow countrymen and your f***king country. I’m being serious, man … You know, it really sucks to know that other people die, because you can’t protect them.”

Slayer is composed of two guitarists — Kerry King and Gary Holt — as well as drummer Paul Bostaph, in addition to Araya. The band will continue its world tour to Denmark, Germany, Hungary, and Italy in the upcoming days, returning to the U.S. for a show in San Diego in late July.