“Martina McBride and Bret Michaels become latest music acts to drop out of the Great American State Fair,” Yahoo! Entertainment reported Friday. “Young MC, the Commodores and Morris Day also withdrew from the Freedom 250-planned event on the National Mall. Vanilla Ice, however, said he is ‘super honored’ to perform.”
How the artists could break a contract to perform without getting sued is unknown at this writing. If they weren’t legally obligated and their participation was advertised anyway, that does not speak well of advance preparations and event management. But it also points to something of more concern than musical B-listers backing out of a deal because they fear political consequences from Democrat-leaning fans more then they do Republican ones.
Only one of the named performers offered an excuse that sounds pragmatic rather than political.
“Concerns have also been raised regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family and myself, including threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable,” Michaels worried. “Because of that, I have made the difficult decision to step away from this performance.”
He’s got a point, because while the theme of the entire Great American State Fair is reflected in the very name of the group producing the event, Freedom 250, and it’s presented as a celebration of what made America great and different from nations where subjects are ruled (instead of citizens being represented), the whole thing will instead take place in a federally mandated “gun-free zone.”
“Will there be security screening?” one of the Frequently Asked Questions poses. And there’s a Clear Bag Policy, with no provisions for “on-site storage or check-in accommodations for prohibited or oversized items.”
What kinds of “prohibited items”?
Ammunition… firearms… pocketknives… weapons of any kind… Firearms are strictly prohibited on the National Mall.
“The Great American State Fair will take place on the National Mall in Washington, DC, between 14th Street and 4th Street,” Freedom 250 instructs. “Attendees can enter the fairgrounds at the following entry points: 12th Street at Jefferson Drive SW and Madison Drive NW; 7th Street at Jefferson Drive SW and Madison Drive NW.”
That’s a sizeable area, and it means visitors legally permitted to carry firearms will need to leave them in their cars. Ditto for visitors parking farther away and riding the “gun-free” Metro into town from Maryland or Virginia.
“Recall that in the landmark United States Supreme Court decision Heller v. District of Columbia, it was noted that the Second Amendment’s protection of an individual right to keep and bear arms did not cast doubt on the validity of ‘laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings,’ the National Rifle Association summarizes. “However, Justice Clarence Thomas in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen later warned that the expansion of ‘sensitive places’ beyond historical precedents is unconstitutional:
[E]xpanding the category of ‘sensitive places’ simply to all places of public congregation that are not isolated from law enforcement defines the category of “sensitive places” far too broadly. [New York’s] argument would in effect exempt cities from the Second Amendment and would eviscerate the general right to publicly carry arms for self-defense…”
Yet that is exactly what is being done. This is citizen disarmament, just as certainly and just as seriously as if this were being imposed by extreme gun prohibitionist Democrats in New York City or Chicago. Except it’s not being done by them. (And some of us would argue about including schools.)
Whether any of the national “gun rights” organizations intend to fight this—or even just point it out to their members as being inconsistent with administration rhetoric and promises—is unknown at this writing.
“Trump mocks artists getting ‘the yips’ about his Freedom 250 concert and unveils new star performer – himself,” the Independent reports.
Noting the deep and increasingly violent divisions in this country, furious uprisings currently going on over ICE deportations, and threats of terror from Iran, it’s hard to argue that the Fair will not be a target for protests, at a minimum. The thought of voluntarily submitting to Second Amendment infringements and subjecting themselves to such risks while participating in festivities that contradict the reason for their being held may give some gun owners the yips as well.
Since text, history, and tradition offer the standards by which the Second Amendment is viewed, the thoughts of John Adams concerning Independence Day celebrations seem appropriate:
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
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About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
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