An Atlanta music festival that has been a huge income-booster for the city since 1994 announced on Monday, the month before the festival was slated to begin, that it would instead have to cancel. And while event organizers haven't said why they needed to slash the two-day event that happens in the city's Piedmont Park, several news outlets have reported that the state's gun laws are to blame. Independent journalist George Chidi predicted such a cancellation and wrote in an article published on Friday that "it’s been coming for a while now."
Chidi said the pandemic delayed the festival from having to deal with the ramifications of a 2014 gun law that former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed and media outlets dubbed the "guns everywhere bill." It permits licensed Georgia gun owners and those from 28 other states to carry guns in bars and government buildings, and even allows school districts and churches to determine if they will let employees bring guns to work. "Later that year, Philip Evans, a gun-rights activist from Monroe County argued that Georgia’s new law permitted guns to be carried in Atlanta Botanical Gardens," Chidi wrote. "The case wound its way through state courts, with a final ruling in 2019 by the Georgia Supreme Court. The gardens were off-limits because it’s technically not public property … but the court essentially affirmed that the law would apply to Piedmont Park."
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp followed up in April by signing into law the Georgia Constitutional Carry Act allowing any legal gun owner to carry their weapon concealed without a permit or training. Kemp also signed a license reciprocity measure to allow those licensed to carry a weapon in another state to do so in Georgia. In April, he framed signage of the law as his refusal to "back down" from pressure from the left. "We’re doing what’s right for the people of our state," Kemp claimed.
He’s been noticeably less vocal about Music Midtown’s cancelation.
Festival officials tweeted on Monday: “Hey Midtown fans - due to circumstances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be taking place this year. We were looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can all get back to enjoying the festival together again soon.”
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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams tweeted on Monday that the music festival’s cancellation will cost the state’s economy $50 million. “It's shameful, but not surprising, that the governor cares more about protecting dangerous people carrying guns in public than saving jobs and keeping business in Georgia,” Abrams said.
Abrams said in a statement that small businesses and workers who rely on festivals like Music Midtown have now lost incomes that helped put food on their tables and roofs over their heads.
She added:
"Once again, as with his actions to ban reproductive care and to suppress voters, Kemp put his political ambitions above the welfare of the state. While he and his political allies will try to distract Georgians by casting blame elsewhere, we can see the truth: the real Brian Kemp refuses to take responsibility and hid is too extreme for Georgia.
Georgians deserve better - they deserve leadership that will not endanger our state's economic standing and the lives of Georgians to score political points. Brian Kemp must speak out and tell us why he allowed this to happen. Georgia needs leaders that respond to the gun violence epidemic in our state with laws that ensure accountability and keep our communities safe, not laws that make it easier for convicted criminals to carry concealed weapons in public while putting our economy at risk."
Rep. Lucy McBath, the Democratic nominee to represent Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, lost her 17-year-old son to gun violence in 2012. The teen, Jordan, was shot and killed at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, because a white man deemed Jordan's music too loud. McBath has since advocated for laws to protect Georgians from gun violence.
She tweeted on Monday that Kemp’s “reckless extremism has driven out millions of dollars for our state and communities.
“Republicans made it easier for criminals to carry weapons — not only putting our safety at risk, but our economy too,” McBath added.
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RELATED: White man deems music too loud and kills Lucy McBath's son. Then, same thing happens 8 years later
