POLL: Would You Attend A Tim McGraw Concert?

Country singer Tim McGraw prompts fury from fans who say an upcoming benefit concert for the non-profit group Sandy Hook Promise will pad the pockets of gun grabbers. Would you buy a ticket to the show?

POLL: Would You Attend A Tim McGraw Concert?

Country singer Tim McGraw faces a boycott after agreeing to a benefit concert for a gun control group.

 

By now you’ve no doubt heard about the kerfuffle created by country singer Tim McGraw’s planned benefit concert for non-profit group Sandy Hook Promise in Hartford, Connecticut, this summer.

Gun rights advocates are up in arms over the show, arguing Sandy Hook Promise is a gun control wolf in sheep’s clothing, and that McGraw’s largess will pad the pockets of gun grabbers.

Founded in the wake of the 2012 school massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Promise says it’s devoted to improving care and awareness of mental illness, creating programs to help kids identify others who might be on the edge of a violent act and initiating a plan to teach “mental first aid” to get help to those who need it.

On its website, the group advocates for gun storage and “responsible firearm safety and handling.”

“If you carry or use guns in front of your children, practice safe storage,” Sandy Hook Promise says. “Keep your firearm unloaded when it isn’t in use. Never point your gun at yourself or another person, and keep your finger off the trigger, regardless of whether or not your safety device is in the on position.”

But dig a little deeper and you’ll find the group rallies behind new gun control legislation like Oregon’s SB 941 — which would put increased restrictions on firearms transfers — and strongly opposed Georgia’s Safe Carry protection act, which allows some teachers to carry concealed firearms in schools.

For his part, McGraw is unapologetic about his planned concert, saying in a statement to The Washington Post he supports gun rights and thinks promoting firearms safety is every gun owner’s responsibility.

“I support gun ownership,” he told The Post. “I also believe that with gun ownership comes the responsibility of education and safety — most certainly when it relates to what we value most, our children. I can’t imagine anyone who disagrees with that.”


McGraw’s fiddle player Dean Brown reportedly has a family friend who lost a child in the Sandy Hook shooting.

One of McGraw’s openers, Billy Currington, bailed on the show, saying he didn’t want to “take on controversial issues.”

But that hasn’t stopped some fans from crying foul.

So, what do you think? Is McGraw just doing his part to support families who faced a horrible loss from the Sandy Hook massacre, or is he throwing in his lot with the gun grabbers? Would you go to a McGraw concert knowing what you know now?



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