Country Music Star Tim McGraw Slammed By Gun Rights Groups Over Sandy Hook Concert
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Tim McGraw is defending his decision to headline a Connecticut concert to benefit a Sandy Hook group, responding to critics who call it a gun control fundraiser.
A concert at the XFINITY Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 17 featuring McGraw will benefit Sandy Hook Promise. The nonprofit group in Newtown was organized by families whose children and siblings were among the 20 children and six educators fatally shot at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.
PHOTOS: Sandy Hook Victims
Its stated objective is to prevent gun violence and focus on mental health issues.
Gun rights advocates took to Facebook and Twitter, calling McGraw a hypocrite for headlining the event.
@billycurrington pulls out of gun control rally. @TheTimMcGraw still going. I guess he WANTS US TO LOSE OUR GUNS.
— A.J. WILLS (@ajwills11) April 17, 2015
@TheTimMcGraw you have been file'd 13 with the Dixie Chicks. Ironically anti gun man, shoots himself in his foot. #timmcgrawboycotted.
— Garrett Wilcox (@Sldomseen) April 17, 2015
Others tweeted messages of support to McGraw for lending his name to Sandy Hook Promise.
Never thought I'd care about anything #TimMcGraw did, but thank you, Tim McGraw, for supporting at least some gun responsibility.
— Sara Cress (@saracress) April 17, 2015
.@TheTimMcGraw thank you for performing at the Sandy Hook Promise event and your support of #gunsense
— Thomas Attila Lewis (@tomdog) April 17, 2015
Opening act Billy Currington withdrew and said on his Facebook page he doesn't want to become involved in a debate between gun rights and gun control.
I've never been one to take on controversial issues - I'm a singer. I do feel strongly about honoring and supporting the...
Posted by Billy Currington on Thursday, April 16, 2015
"I've never been one to take on controversial issues -- I'm a singer," he wrote. "I do feel strongly about honoring and supporting the Sandy Hook community and will be making a donation to a local organization."
McGraw said in a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday there is no contradiction between gun ownership and supporting Sandy Hook Promise.
"Let me be clear regarding the concert for Sandy Hook given much of the erroneous reporting thus far. As a gun owner, I support gun ownership," he said. "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."
"The concert is meant to do something good for a community that is recovering," McGraw said.
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