By Sudhin Thanawala, AP
Tens of thousands of Music Midtown festivalgoers are no longer going to descend on Atlanta’s massive Piedmont Park next month to cheer on hip-hop star Future or watch beloved rock band My Chemical Romance take the stage.
In fact, some people are convinced Atlanta — center of the nation’s hip-hop music scene — will lose more music festivals and performances on public land as organizers and artists learn that state law makes it nearly impossible for them to stop people from carrying guns among the crowds.
That prospect has ignited a new fight over gun rights in Georgia that is roiling the governor’s race, casting a shadow over Atlanta’s vaunted music scene and adding to tension between the city and state.
Live Nation has refused to say why it recently called off September’s Music Midtown, a longtime fixture for pop music lovers.
But news outlets, citing anonymous sources, ascribed last week’s announcement to a 2019 Georgia Supreme Court decision that outlined limits on the ability of private companies to ban guns on public property. The ruling stemmed from a 2014 state law that expanded the locations where guns were allowed.
Democrats, led by Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, pounced on the news, casting the cancellation as an example of the sort of economic fallout the state would experience from Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s “extreme gun agenda.” Though the gun law cited in reports about Music Midtown was enacted under Kemp’s Republican predecessor, Kemp was a key backer of a new state law this year that eliminated the need for a license — and with it, a background check — to carry a handgun in public.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial warned the gun policies threaten Atlanta’s status as the “cultural capital of the South.” Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman bemoaned the loss of this year’s Music Midtown, as well as its timing.
“All of these things are culminating at the moment when we should be coming out of COVID with music festivals and people gathering, a lot of economic activity,” he told The Associated Press.
Beyond the immediate fallout, the fight also added to a disconnect between Georgia’s heavily Democratic capital city and the GOP-controlled state Legislature that has recently expanded gun rights and restricted abortion and voting access. State leaders butted heads with huge Atlanta-based firms Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola over the voting changes, which the companies called “unacceptable.”
Live Nation did not respond to emails about the cancellation of Music Midtown. The festival’s website cited “circumstances beyond our control,” but no one from the company has publicly blamed the state’s gun laws.
Phillip Evans, a gun rights activist who’d previously sued the Atlanta Botanical Garden over its gun-free policy, has said he had warned Music Midtown organizers that their policy of banning guns was contrary to state law. Evans’ suit prompted the 2019 state Supreme Court ruling that said private companies with a certain type of lease on public land could not ban guns.
Live Nation planned to host the festival at Piedmont Park — public land — where the festival had been held each year since 2011, with the coronavirus-related exception of 2020. And it almost certainly fell into the leasing category that would make a ban on guns illegal. Music Midtown was staged as planned again in 2021.
“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.
Cancelling the event over the gun law would make sense from Live Nation’s perspective, said Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University.
A mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas in 2017 that claimed more than 50 lives cost MGM Resorts International — the owner of the concert venue — and its insurers $800 million in legal claims. With no restriction on guns, Live Nation was looking at potentially “astronomical” liability exposure at Music Midtown, Lytton said.
The cancellation was a blow to Georgia’s economy and local businesses.
Abrams said in a statement that Kemp “cares more about protecting dangerous people carrying guns in public than saving jobs and keeping business in Georgia,” and her campaign released an attack ad this week focused on the cancellation. Democrats in other states also weighed in.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak tweeted, “Here in Nevada, we believe in common sense gun safety and protecting our reproductive rights. @MusicMidtown, we would love to have you in the Silver state!” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also invited Music Midtown to his state.
Kemp accused Abrams and other Democrats of “pushing” critical narratives of Georgia’s firearms landscape to distract from inflation that he blames on the party’s policies.
Gun rights advocates have identified at least one other music venue in Atlanta that they say could be in violation of the 2014 gun law — Chastain Park, which features an amphitheater nestled inside a wealthy residential neighborhood and prohibits “weapons” at shows.
But the activists say they are not looking to shut down events, just protect themselves.
“If I’m going somewhere in a big crowd, I want to be able to carry my firearm,” said Jerry Henry, executive director of Georgia Second Amendment. “I will assure you there will be criminals out there.”
Well, bless her heart.
Of COURSE she does.
The disgrace to her race has a problem with a Constitutional Right. A right her very own sicko democRat Party slave masters denied Black Americans from exercising because they were born Black.
Al the b is doing is letting criminals know if she is elected she’ll supply them with unarmed victims with no chance to defend themselves. Only useful idiots would attend an event with nothing to defend themselves…all while the hypocrite abrams has armed security.
Another 80 IQ individual whose career is a gift from its beginning, ala Kamala.
Criminals get to have guns.
Law abiding people don’t.
Got it.
Beloved rock band My Chemical Romance….
Is there a laugh track that goes with that sentence?
So Stacey “but I’m the real governor” Abrams hates good folks with gats?!? Got it. Where was “she” when MLB took the All-Star game from Georgia? Did it think those Rap/hip hop/what ever events were gat-free before these edicts??? Duh…
Abrams retroactively stealth edited her op-ed to pull back from her boy_cott* talk after MLB ditched Atlanta. She’s a morally repulsive coward.
*underscore to avoid moderation
I never heard of the band My Chemical Romance. I’d check them out, but I think I’d only be disappointed. The criminals will always have guns, as they don’t follow or obey laws. And if one gets “dissed”, it is perfectly right and just to pull out their gat and cap the offender, even if their are innocents in the way. It is the mindset of the attendees that is the problem, not the laws in effect.
Sad but true. Hip-hop is an expression of a culture with a mean chip on its collective shoulder.
I think the real problem isn’t the guns, it’s the hip hop fans having guns. The country music festival shooting was from the outside in. The shooting at rap concerts and events tends to be from the inside.
lol, you said the quite part out loud
“I think the real problem isn’t the guns, it’s the hip hop fans having guns.”
Now, that’s a culturally-insensitive comment.
Their culture of revenge murder is every bit as valid as your culture…
LOL if it weren’t true…
Astroworld
Who needs guns? People can just have the life crushed out of them.
I was just thinking about that event while reading the comments.
Good! I used to live a mile from there and every year I could hear that racket until late at night, and the traffic would be terrible. Totally inappropriate for the city to give the exclusive use of public property over to a private business venture.
Of course she objects to people exercising their human and civil rights. She is part of the problem. No part of the solution.
Sisolak how is murdering babies reproductive rights? That’s deproductive rights. You actually had a mass shooting at a concert, sit down and shut up. Who wants Coke and Delta making the law of the land? The rest of the state doesn’t want spoiled city folks telling them what to do. Get ‘‘em Hershel!
Maybe they just looked at her ugly mug and said “hell no!”
“cares more about protecting dangerous people carrying guns in public than saving jobs and keeping business in Georgia,”
Brain dead bitch…
So, if I carry a firearm I am automatically dangerous. Well yes yes I am. To criminals who try to harm me or take my stuff.
We all know who brings the guns and use em, so does Abrams. Just watch, she’ll make it a racist issue before it’s over!
Surprised it hasn’t already…
Lmfao
It sounds like a super spreader event to me.
So yes, shut it down! Do it now before someone is killed!
Virtue signaling nonsense. There never was or will be any way to stop people from bringing guns or anything else into any venue.
The of the reasons most bars ban guns is that when you mix young drunked up men with half naked women a fight will always break out and so to it is with music concerts.
Not being able to ban guns from a huge crowd gathering is just plain nuts and only asking for a shoot out which is sure to happen. You can always count on the naked ape to act down to his most beastlike level.
When the state starts losing millions in revenue the law will change because if there is one thing the Republican Politicians worship, it is blind greed.
Lol
As if any criminals cares enough to obey any gun ban
You’re projecting your inadequacies onto the people that comment here on TTAG. Just because you get drunk and act like a fool doesn’t mean everyone else does.
@dacian,
you don’t know anything about half naked women.
@dacian,
you don’t know anything about half naked women.
correction he don’t know about WOMEN PERIOD!
“You can always count on the naked ape to act down to his most beastlike level.”
Well when it comes down to dnc voters and the likes of GAPtoothZILLA you get the ‘ape’ part right!
That’s why we want guns, dacian. When you naked apes that cannot get a woman the legit way start acting the fool we’d like to be able to protect society from your type.
“Not being able to ban guns from a huge crowd gathering is just plain nuts and only asking for a shoot out which is sure to happen.”
Yeah, Virginia Lobby Day, January 20, 2020. Twenty-two thousand in attendance.
No shootings, no violence — not even a single negligent discharge.
Booze and guns do not mix, i will agree to that. now half naked women and booze work well together !
Atlanta, “cultural capital of the South.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That’s a good one! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I fly into Atlanta when I visit family in rural Georgia.
As far as I can tell Atlanta is the “gentleman’s Club’ capital of the south.
Always blame anyone and everyone except the person using the firearm to commit the crime. Blame the political opposition. Blame the White Man. Blame the government if it happens to be under control of the other party. Blame the police. Blame the firearms themselves. Blame the gun makers. Blame the sellers. Blame, blame, blame.
Murder, and nearly all violent crimes are considered immoral, and are illegal. What implement is used is irrelevant. Put the blame on the only person it belongs to. The actual perpetrator of the violent act. No one, and no particular inanimate object, bears any responsibility beyond the individual committing the crime.
Ahhhh as long as it’s not country western they should have all the gunms they want.
But I was gonna wear my matching snakeskin holster and cowboy boots! Would look out of place at a hip hop jam.
Snakeskin Cowboys
IRS Deletes Requirement That New Agents Be Willing to Use ‘Deadly Force’
Newsweek reached out to the IRS for clarification about when mentions of deadly force were removed from job descriptions, and whether backlash from social media or otherwise led to the change.
And an exposé on more laughable Republican lies about the new Biden Inflation Reduction Act.
“This means that, contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited.”
https://www.newsweek.com/irs-deletes-requirement-that-new-agents-willing-use-deadly-force-1733352?utm_source=STMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TheBulletinSpecial&user_email_address=36953de984526d1daa2a4746076a5761&utm_term=Bulletin
Liar.
The Congressional Budget Office has a different take:
“FOX has obtained the CBO’s score of a Senate amendment proposed by Republican Idaho Sen. Crapo that would have prevented any additional IRS funds to audit taxpayers making less than $400,000 a year. The CBO says with this amendment, the Inflation Reduction Act would lose $20 Billion dollars in revenue.”
from the email sent by the Congressional Budget Office:
“The figure is at least $20 billion. This amount is likely higher.
“This $20 billion is on top of the existing number they are pulling from this income group currently.
“According to official “tax gap” estimates, 78%-90% of “under-reported” tax dollars come from families making less than $200k. A mere 4% from those making $500,000 or more.”
BS
FBI testing is in: The FBI says the gun Alex Baldwin used could not have been fired without the trigger being pulled. It did not go off “accidentally” as Baldwin had claimed, Baldwin pulled the trigger plain and simple.
He may have done it by putting rearward pressure on the trigger while he was pulling the hammer back, that particular gun would fire if that happened if he released the hammer with that pressure on the trigger. Just saw him on TV in an interview clip and he demonstrated briefly how he was holding the gun and his finger would have been on the trigger as he pulled the hammer back. He probably just doesn’t remember the pressure on the trigger. But pull the trigger he did with that pressure on the trigger, plain and simple.
Baldwin’s wife testified that he was prone to negligent discharges.
OUCH! 🤣
Probably all squib loads.
“”Abrams said in a statement that Kemp “cares more about protecting dangerous people carrying guns in public””
the only people carrying that were dangerous WERE YOURS gaptoothzilla and now the rest of the law abiding folks can too to protect themselves from the law breaker/gangsters that vote dnc!
gaptoothzilla! 😂🤣
When she needs dental floss, she heads to the rope aisle.
Let me fix that for you sir.
I believe she probably uses battleship anchor chain for that span she has.
Your welcome.
1st. This is being blown way out of proportion and the exact wording of the pro-gun law is being exploited while leaving out the rest of the law thats not specific for guns to make it appear as though the organizers are ‘aggrieved’ and Stacy Adams is right and the Governor is endangering the public.
Guns can indeed be banned from the event. The law allows for preemption to ban guns (or other things, e.g. alcohol), basically anything, to be banned ‘temporarily’ on public property by local or state law enforcement departments for special events (e.g. concerts, rally’s, etc…), for the duration of the event. The organizers know this. Every state in the country has such laws that allow things to be banned from special events anywhere in the state. It is not true that Georgia’s gun laws make it impossible to bar firearms from Piedmont Park for the concert if the available law that is not gun orientated is applied.
It is true that a short-term tenant of that property can’t enforce its own ban – and that’s what they are upset about, that they can’t use their own ban as they wish. And the reason is that they allow the ‘artists’ and their ‘guests’ and their ‘recruited security’ (not really security, armed gang thugs basically) to be armed, so they want to selectively ban the public while allowing their own selected people to be armed. If the law were used to ban firearms for the event it would apply to everyone, so the ‘artists’ and their ‘guests’ and their ‘recruited security’ would not be able to be armed.
2nd. This is trying to make a ‘political statement’, and lend some steam to Stacy Adams who is lying to the public and so are the organizers.
Ah, now it makes sense – the only ban the organizers can put in effect is a length of event total ban imposed by local/state law enforcement which precludes their “special guests” from carrying. So this is about who gets preferential treatment, not about public safety. IOW it’s Democrat party SOP vs the rule of law…our times in microcosm.
How is the Vegas concert shooting relevant? The shooter wasn’t even at the concert, he shot from a hotel room overlooking the event. If shot at the right trajectory a deer rifle bullet can travel 5 miles and still have a lethal velocity. Do they think they can disarm everyone in a 5 miles radius?
Play “diversity” games – Win “diversity” prizes.
No doubt these venues couldn’t shut down fast enough for Stacey the election result- doubting insurrectionist when the reason was the WuFlu, no matter how few of the 70+ crowd truly at risk from that had any inclination whatsoever to do so nor how many younger people not at significant risk were denied access. She should be used to being the anti-fun police.
Was it REALLY necessary to include the photo of a jackass’s butt? Screw faux live “music” event. And “hiphop”.
Note the resemblance between mammie Abrams, Algore, and donkey’s ass.
https://i2.wp.com/pagesix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/05/algore1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&ssl=1
https://live.staticflickr.com/51/133262843_17493c7531_b.jpg
Here….this ought to blow Stacy Abram’s anti gun stance clear outta the water…..
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Stacy+Abrams%27s+black+panthers+photos&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.westernjournal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F11%2Fmembers-of-the-black-panthers.jpg
less than .0002% of law abiding gun owners have ties to far-right extremist groups.
More than 60% of democrats and liberals (collectively), and all core BLM movement leadership, and including the DNC and democrat senators in congress, have ties to violent far-left extremist groups. (for example, your pic).
Oh no the my chemical romance concert is cancelled what ever shall we do 🤣
but my chemical romance is apparently integral to the “cultural capital of the South.”
I guess that music and culture must not be important enough. Or the need to ban guns must not be important enough to find a private venue.
1st. This is being blown way out of proportion and the exact wording of the pro-gun law is being exploited while leaving out the rest of the law that’s not specific for guns to make it appear as though the organizers are ‘aggrieved’ and Stacy Adams is right and the Governor is endangering the public.
Guns can indeed be banned from the event. The law allows for preemption to ban guns (or other things, e.g. alcohol), basically anything, to be banned ‘temporarily’ on public property by local or state law enforcement departments for special events (e.g. concerts, rally’s, etc…), for the duration of the event. The organizers know this. Every state in the country has such laws that allow things to be banned from special events anywhere in the state. It is not true that Georgia’s gun laws make it impossible to bar firearms from Piedmont Park for the concert if the available law that is not gun orientated is applied.
It is true that a short-term tenant of that property can’t enforce its own ban – and that’s what they are upset about, that they can’t use their own ban as they wish. And the reason is that they allow the ‘artists’ and their ‘guests’ and their ‘recruited security’ (not really security, armed gang thugs basically) to be armed, so they want to selectively ban the public while allowing their own selected people to be armed. If the law were used to ban firearms for the event it would apply to everyone, so the ‘artists’ and their ‘guests’ and their ‘recruited security’ would not be able to be armed.
2nd. This is trying to make a ‘political statement’, and lend some steam to Stacy Adams who is lying to the public and so are the organizers.
posted the above previously, but to add to it due to this statement in the article and for clarification:
“Gun rights advocates have identified at least one other music venue in Atlanta that they say could be in violation of the 2014 gun law — Chastain Park, which features an amphitheater nestled inside a wealthy residential neighborhood and prohibits “weapons” at shows.”
It is in violation of the 2014 gun law its self, but it is not in violation of law. Laws in Georgia allow for preemption to ban guns (or other things, e.g. alcohol), basically anything, to be banned ‘temporarily’ on public property by local or state law enforcement departments for special events (e.g. concerts, rally’s, etc…), (‘shows’ in this case) for the duration of the event. However, the law also allows a city or community or state to enact the same for special events (e.g. concerts, rally’s, etc…), (‘shows’ in this case) for the duration of the event.
14 injured when car crashes into pub outside Washington, D.C.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/14-injured-when-car-crashes-into-pub-outside-washington-dc/ar-AA10BMZl
Just to point out, I was just reminded by something my wife is working on and its interesting so to share… to date, over 1,000 times more people have been seriously injured or killed (collectively) in car accidents (e.g. car on car) or car related accidents (e.g. working on cars, unattended cars moving for some reason like brakes fail and rolls down hill, etc…) or accidents involving pedestrians being stuck by cars or single-car accidents (e.g. driver hits a stationary object) – including ‘fender bender’ minor car accidents – the term ‘car’ also includes trucks including passenger, SUV, commercial – in the last three years than all the people shot with firearms in the last 30 years.
You want to ban something dangerous, ban cars.
note: “than all the people shot with firearms in the last 30 years.” – this does not include military actions by official government military or law enforcement.
The post was in reference to the United States.
Notes:
“brakes fail and rolls down hill,” – cars with defective/broken transmission for example.
“(e.g. car on car)” also includes car on motorcycle or 3/4 wheeler.
Notes:
“You want to ban something dangerous, ban cars.”
Said that wrong..
Meant
You want to ban something in the interest of actual public safety, ban cars.
The progs are working on it. They want nothing but a few $70k golf carts.
IT’S REAL SIMPLE…The musicians are all liberal and radical hacks… Abrams pulled the strings as a political weapon…She is also the reason the All Star game pulled out…Any Georgian that votes for her needs to walk “into the light”…
Stacy strikes again! Seems it was the Woke people of the festival that canceled the festival, not the Governor.
Time for the anti-gun Leftist radicals to accept their own blame.
Merci pour ce partage
Stacey Abrams is from the same mold as the blm directors. No good will come from her in office.
Maybe they need a better class of attendees. Stacy’s rallys sure do.