Country music star Eric Church has called out the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying he “blame[s] the lobbyists” for not stopping mass shootings like the one at a Las Vegas music festival he headlined last year.

Mr Church took on America’s biggest gun rights lobbying group in a new interview, saying they were part of the reason few gun control measures were passed after the October mass shooting.

“I don’t care who you are – you shouldn’t have that kind of power over elected officials,” Mr Church told Rolling Stone of the lobbying group.

He added: “At this point in time, if I was an NRA member, I would think I had more of a problem than the solution. I would question myself real hard about what I wanted to be in the next three, four, five years.”

The 41-year-old headlined the multi-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas where a lone gunman opened fire in October, killing 58 people and wounding more than 800. While Mr Church had played his last show two days earlier, he said he was “wrecked” by the knowledge that his fans were among the victims.

Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting – in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA

The shooting galvanised calls for gun control reforms in the US, which only grew louder after a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida four months later. A major target of outrage was the NRA, which spends millions of dollars each year fighting against stricter gun laws.

The gunman in the Las Vegas shooting was Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man who rented a room in a nearby hotel, and secretly stockpiled dozens of firearms in the week before.

Mr Church said he was a supporter of the Second Amendment – a provision in the US Constitution that guarantees the right to bear arms – but added that in Mr Paddock’s case, “nobody should have that many guns and that much ammunition and we don’t know about it”.

“Something’s gotta be done so that a person can’t have an armoury and pin down a Las Vegas SWAT team for six minutes,” he said. That’s f***ed up.”