Georgia open-carry law cancels music festival
Did you watch any of Lollapalooza over the weekend? Broadcast on Hulu from that violent, Democrat-run, urban hellscape of Chicago? Well, that sort of thing ain’t happening anytime soon in Atlanta, peaches. Because freedom!
Atlanta’s Music Midtown festival has been cancelled over Georgia’s gun laws.
The September festival in Piedmont Park was set to host My Chemical Romance, Future, Jack White and Fall Out Boy, among other performers. Citing “circumstances beyond our control,” festival organizers did not comment further on what caused the two-day show’s cancellation. But it seems they cannot prohibit possession of firearms at a festival held on public property. That poses a safety risk to 50,000 fans and threats of lawsuits from gun advocates.
Billboard notes that most promotion companies “will not host a festival in a location that permits gun owners to carry their weapons into an event, with an exception sometimes made for law enforcement. Some artist riders actually have specific language saying that artist will not perform in cities or states where gun laws grant attendees the right to bring weapons inside of a concert venue.”
The decision centered on a 2014 state law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by then-Gov. Nathan Deal that allowed Georgians to legally carry firearms in a range of new places, including public land such as city-owned Piedmont Park.
For years, there was no legal consensus on whether that law applied to private events held on public property. But a 2019 Georgia Supreme Court ruling — and an appellate court ruling earlier this year upholding that decision — made it more difficult for private groups to restrict guns from short-term events held on public land.
The event’s organizers were concerned about a threat of a lawsuit from gun owners if they decided to hold the festival with firearms restrictions in place, two officials with direct knowledge of the decision told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
WSBTV Atlanta had more:
Channel 2 obtained an email from two independent sources that shows a Monroe County man reaching out to the festival. Parts of the email say, “Should any member of your security team accost a legal carrier of weapons and either prevents their entry or ejects them merely because they are lawfully armed, your company could be sued for damages and all associated legal costs, not to mention Live Nation as well.”
Georgia gun advocate Phil Evans told CNN he emailed organizers in May warning them that he had asked the city to deny the festival a permit for attempting to prohibit possession of firearms.
The cancellation is a “major blow” to the city’s tourism industry, the AJC reports, and to Atlanta’s “mystique as a music mecca.”
Calling it a “sad day” for the city, Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman wrote on Twitter that: “Public policy has real impacts and, in this case, economic and social implications on a great tradition.”
And state Democrats chastised Republicans for adopting a raft of pro-gun legislation, including a 2022 law that allows Georgians to carry concealed handguns without first getting a license from the state.
“Brian Kemp’s dangerous and extreme gun agenda endangers the lives of Georgians, and the cancellation of Music Midtown is proof that his reckless policies endanger Georgia’s economy as well,” said Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
Atlanta Pride Fest organizers say the festival set for early October is still on schedule:
“We have taken Georgia Open Carry Law into account with our security plans for many years now. Although we certainly would like to see more regulations and the ability to limit weapons, just because we think that big crowds and guns don’t mix,” said Jamie Fergerson with the Atlanta Pride Committee.
Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot confirmed an agreement to keep Lollapalooza at Grant Park for another decade, calling it “not only a significant economic driver” for the city, but a “truly iconic Chicago summer festival.” Attendance will be allowed to grow from 100,000 to 115,000 per day.
Chicago receives a share of the festival revenue. Arrests during this year’s four-day festival numbered under 20, fewer than in 2021.
Georgia’s open-carry fans may miss their music but have more time and money for shooting holes in cans, training to overthrow their government, and for intimidating neighbors.
A biker once told me what he liked most about being in a biker gang was not the motorcycles or fighting, but how just the image made people step out of his way. Open-carry likely has the same antisocial appeal.
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