The NRA’s Grand Ole Night of Freedom Concert has been canceled after Jacob Bryant – who tweeted on Friday that “The show was canceled yesterday” – and six other performers pulled out following the Uvalde school shooting.
Originally scheduled for Saturday night (5.28), this weekend’s NRA Convention in Houston is just 300 miles east of Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were killed Tuesday by a gunman with an assault rifle.
Though no official statement by the NRA’s been made, the organization’s president Charles Cotton told members: “We had to cancel that” and an email was sent to ticket-holders confirming the cancellation and a full refund “All remaining scheduled events are still taking place.” “Please join fellow Second Amendment patriots for the remainder of the this freedom-filled weekend.”
The multi-artist country concert was already in question on Thursday (5.26) when Don “American Pie” McLean dropped out and Larry Gatlin, a conservative country singer who’s performed at past NRA conventions followed soon after. “I cannot, in good conscience, perform at the NRA convention in Houston this weekend,” said the 74-year-old musician, before calling for background checks and asking the NRA to reconsider some of its “outdated and ill-thought-out positions regarding firearms.”
Lee Greenwood, Danielle Peck, T. Graham Brown, and Larry Stewart of the band Restless Heart all subsequently pulled out as well.
The NRA Convention moved forward with speakers like the disgraceful Texas senator Ted Cruz and twice-impeached former president Donald Trump, who said “Unlike some, I didn’t disappoint you by not showing up.”
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Gage Skidmore