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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Organizers of a massive Atlanta music festival are canceling series of events over gun fears stemming from Georgia’s state laws that make it impossible to stop armed people from attending events.
Tens of
thousands of people will no longer attend the city’s massive Piedmont Park in
September to watch hip-hop star Future or rock band My Chemical Romance, The Associated
Press reports.
Will Atlanta lose more music events over state gun laws?
Atlanta – a hub
for music festivals is likely to lose more music events and performances on
public land as a state law does not allow organizers to prevent gun violence by
stopping trigger happy crowds from accessing facilities with guns.
It’s not
clear why Live Nation cancelled September’s Music Midtown for pop music lovers
but multiple news outlets said the cancellations may not be unconnected with a
2019 Georgia Supreme Court decision that outlined limits on the ability of
private companies to ban guns on public property, citing anonymous sources, The
Associated Press reported. A 2014 state law expanded the locations where guns
were allowed, the basis for the Supreme Court ruling.
Democrat Abrams blame Kemp's "extreme gun agenda" for Atlanta Music Festival cancellation
Democrats such as Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams seized on the opportunity, linking the cancellation to more of what the state should expect from Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s “extreme gun agenda,” according to The Associated Press. Kemp also reportedly backed a new state law this year that eliminated the need for a license to carry a handgun in public.
Why did Live Nation cancel Atlanta music festival?
The festival’s
website cited “circumstances beyond our control,” as reason for the cancellations
without citing the state’s gun laws.
The festival
by Live Nation was billed to take place at Piedmont Park, a public land where the
festival had been held each year since 2011 except in 2020 due to coronavirus,
according to The Associated Press.
“In terms of Music Midtown, it’s virtually a no-brainer that they can’t ban guns there,” said John Monroe, an attorney who represented a gun rights group in the case before the state Supreme Court, according to The Associated Press.
The Associated
Press reported that a mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas in
2017 claimed 50 innocent lives, costing MGM Resorts International, owner of the
concert venue and its insurers $800 in legal claims.
This
liability fear is key reason why Live Nation is calling off next month’s
festival with no gun restriction.