Tens of thousands of Music Midtown Festival-goers will gather in Atlanta's sprawling Piedmont Park next month to cheer on hip-hop stars Future and beloved rock band My Chemical Romance. No more looking at the stage.
In fact, some believe that Atlanta, the heart of the US hip-hop music scene, will lose even more public land music festivals and performances. Stop people carrying guns in alcohol-fueled crowds.
The prospect has ignited a new battle over gun rights in Georgia, disrupted the gubernatorial campaign, overshadowed Atlanta's vaunted music scene, and led the city and state to heightening the tension between
Live Nation declined to disclose why it recently canceled his September Music Midtown, a long-running event for pop music lovers.
But media outlets, citing unnamed sources, attributed last week's announcement to a 2019 Georgia Supreme Court ruling. The ruling outlined limitations on the ability of private companies to ban guns on public property. The ruling stems from a 2014 state law that expanded where guns are allowed.
Democrats, led by Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, jumped on the news and made this cancellation the kind the state would experience from Republican Governor Brian Kemp's "extreme gun policy." The gun laws cited in the Music Midtown report were enacted under Kemp's Republican predecessor, but Kemp won a license to carry a handgun this year. was a major proponent of new state laws that eliminated the need for public.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution An editorial warned that gun control threatened Atlanta's status as the "Cultural Capital of the South." Atlanta City Council Chairman Doug Shipman lamented the loss of when and where Music Midtown will be held this year.
"These all culminate in a moment when music festivals, people gatherings and a lot of economic activity need to get him out of COVID," he told the Associated Press. .
Beyond its immediate impact, the fight is also pitting Georgia's heavily democratic capital against the Republican-ruled state, which has recently expanded gun rights and restricted access to abortion and voting. State leaders have butted heads with Atlanta-based giants Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola over the vote change.
Live Nation did not respond to emails regarding Music Midtown's cancellation. The festival's website cites "situation beyond our control," but no one at the company has publicly denounced the state's gun laws. Gun rights activist Philip Evans, who has sued over the ban, said he warned Music Midtown organizers that their gun ban policy was against state law. Evans' lawsuit prompted a 2019 state Supreme Court ruling that said private companies doing certain types of leases on public land cannot ban guns.
Live Nation planned to host the festival in Piedmont Park (public land), where the festival has been held annually since 2011, with the exception of the 2020 coronavirus-related exception. would make gun bans illegal.
"When it comes to Midtown Music, it's virtually too easy for him to ban guns there," said John, an attorney who represented gun rights groups in a state Supreme Court case. Monroe said.
Canceling the event over gun control reasons makes sense from Live Nation's perspective, said Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University.
More than 50 people were killed in the 2017 shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas. filed $800 million legal claims. With no restrictions on guns, Lytton said Live Nation was considering taking on a potentially "astronomical" liability at Music Midtown.
Cancellations have hit Georgia's economy and local businesses.
Abrams said in a statement that Kemp "is more interested in protecting dangerous people who carry guns in public than in protecting jobs and keeping businesses in Georgia. '” and her campaign released an attack ad this week focused on the cancellation. Democrats from other states also participated.
Governor of Nevada. Steve Sisolak said, "Here in Nevada, we believe in common sense gun safety and reproductive rights protection. @MusicMidtown, please come to the Silver State." , Music invited Midtown to his state.
Kemp accused Abrams and other Democrats of trying to "push" critical narratives about the gun situation in Georgia to distract from inflation.
Georgia was also recently criticized by Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom for a state law banning most abortions if fetal heart activity is present.The law went into effect last month.
Newsom last week placed an ad in entertainment magazine Variety urging film studios to stop making films in states including Georgia. State tax credits have made Georgia a prime destination for filmmaking.
Kemp told reporters last week that she wasn't worried about attempts by Democratic governors to lure businesses out of Georgia, including California.
"You recently looked at gas prices in these states," Kemp said, citing Georgia's strong industrial development, tourism and movie figures. 67} Gun rights advocates have identified at least one music venue in Atlanta that they claim may have violated the 2014 Gun Control Act. Chastain Park is an amphitheater located in a wealthy residential neighborhood that bans "weapons." at the show.
But activists say they have no intention of shutting down the event, just to protect themselves.
"I want to be able to carry firearms when I go to places where large numbers of people gather," said Jerry Henry, Executive Director of the Second Amendment to Georgia. "I assure you there are criminals out there."