Liberals are obtuse: they really don’t understand why, whenever there is a mass shooting incident, conservatives don’t demand repeal of the 2nd Amendment and gun confiscation. A case in point is today’s Associated Press article titled, “Many in country music mum over gun issues after Vegas deaths.” Yes: that is because many in country music, like Americans generally, don’t think that the depraved actions of a murderer should be seized upon to erode Americans’ civil rights. The AP begins by quoting someone named Meghan Linsey:
When singer Meghan Linsey first started her country duo Steel Magnolia, a partnership with the National Rifle Association was suggested as a way to grow their audience.
The proposal, which she refused, was a commonplace example of how intertwined gun ownership is with country music.
I listen to country music an average of an hour to two hours a day–I have a long commute–and I had never heard of Meghan Linsey. Her Wikipedia page indicates that she has never had a hit record. She is known principally for one incident: when called upon, as a virtual unknown, to sing the National Anthem at an NFL game, she took a knee. So naturally the AP went first to her for comment on Stephen Paddock’s rampage.
“I just feel like you’re so censored as a country artist,” said Linsey, an independent musician who took a knee after singing the national anthem at an NFL football game. “I feel like the labels like to keep you that way. They don’t want you to speak out. They don’t want you to say things that would upset country music listeners.”
Contradicting that hypothesis, the AP notes that several country musicians have indeed called for more gun control laws and regulations, on top of the hundreds that already exist, following the Las Vegas massacre. Country musicians, like Americans generally, have diverse opinions on political issues.
But most of them are smart enough to understand that there is no magical government solution to the age-old problem of evil. The AP seems to think that those who don’t demand more ineffectual laws are quislings:
Many artists expressed grief over the Las Vegas killings without wading into politics. Alongside her husband Vince Gill, Amy Grant led a prayer at a vigil in Nashville on Monday, a day after the shooting, while Maren Morris released a song called “Dear Hate,” in which she but declares “love conquers all.” Eric Church angrily said “no amount of bullets” was going to take away his memories of those fans killed, before debuting a song written in memory of the victims called “Why Not Me.”
John Osborne of the duo Brothers Osborne was in tears on national radio talking about the deaths of fans who they considered family. Keith Urban struggled to talk about the shooting to his 9-year-old daughter. Jason Aldean, who was on stage at the festival when the shooter opened fire, said, “This world is becoming the kind of place I am afraid to raise my children in.” Many others have donated to funds set up to help the victims and countless other selfless acts have brought the community even closer to support one another.
But those rational responses aren’t good enough for the AP. They give the last word to liberal Rosanne Cash:
Singer Rosanne Cash, a longtime gun control advocate, called on the country music community to do more in an op-ed in the New York Times.
“It is no longer enough to separate yourself quietly,” Cash wrote. “The laws the N.R.A. would pass are a threat to you, your fans, and to the concerts and festivals we enjoy.”
But the issue isn’t “laws the N.R.A. would pass.” The issue is that liberals want to repeal or neuter the 2nd Amendment and make gun ownership illegal or practically impossible, e.g. through a prohibitive tax on ammunition. The NRA, America’s largest and most effective civil rights organization, is simply standing up for the Bill of Rights, which is always in danger from liberal encroachment. While country musicians are not one of the chief pillars of our liberties, we can be grateful that for the most part, they have declined to join the liberals’ statist chorus.
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