Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
NRA Firearms Auction at Country Museum Nixed
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
March 8, 2020

Share

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For weeks the National Rifle Association has been publicizing plans to hold a fundraising dinner at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum where it planned to auction off firearms, even as many country music artists have distanced themselves from the gun rights organization.

A spokesperson for the museum confirmed to The Associated Press that the April 17 event will not take place at the site after the AP asked questions about the museum’s no firearms policy.
But a spokesperson for the museum confirmed to The Associated Press that the April 17 event will not take place at the site after the AP asked questions about the museum’s no firearms policy. The NRA’s relationship with country artists and music organizations has fractured in recent years after several mass shootings, including one at a Las Vegas country music festival in 2017.
The NRA is holding its annual convention this April in downtown Nashville. Touted as one of the premiere events of the convention, the $500-per ticket NRA-ILA dinner and auction at the museum promised “celebrities, industry executives and a host of Second Amendment supporters from around the country.” The Institute for Legislative Action is the NRA’s lobbying arm. Last week, the NRA publicized that auction items would include “engraved firearms, suppressors, knives, fine art, hunts, optics and trips from around the globe.”
The museum, which calls itself “the Smithsonian of country music,” is one of the Nashville’s biggest tourist draws, bringing in a record 1.3 million visitors last year. The museum also rents out private event spaces.

It’s Not Clear Which Side Made the Decision

On Feb. 28, Kelly McGlumphy, the museum’s director of communications, confirmed to the AP that the museum’s policy prohibits firearms, loaded or unloaded, or other weapons, in the building whether visible or concealed. When asked how the policy affected the NRA’s plans for an auction that included firearms, McGlumphy, said that the museum was talking to the NRA about the auction. Nearly a week later, on Thursday evening, McGlumphy told the AP that “following those discussions, the organization will not be holding their event at the museum.”
It’s not clear which side made the decision. The convention will still be held at the Music City Center, a nearby convention site. The NRA did not return calls from the AP about the auction, but previously, the NRA’s website for the fundraiser had an image of a woman displaying a rifle in a crowded room.
For years, the NRA partnered with and publicized country artists as a part of a lifestyle marketing campaign called NRA Country. They promoted country artists on their website, paid for advertising for the artists and hired them to perform at NRA events. NRA partnered with the Academy of Country Music in 2011 and 2012 to put on a celebrity shooting competition that was hosted by Blake Shelton and included artists like Luke Bryan, Montgomery Gentry and Justin Moore. In 2015, when the NRA last held its convention in Nashville, the organization sponsored an Alan Jackson concert and held NRA Country Jam, a free concert featuring Hank Williams Jr. and Colt Ford.

Certain Country Artists Have Been Vocal on Gun Control

“Part of it is buying friends. They are supporting artists, giving them money, tour support, basically hiring them to play at events,” said Don Cusic, a Belmont University professor and country music historian.

“They went from seeing the NRA as an opportunity in terms of marketing, publicity and tour support money to a big liability. And they are going to avoid that. They aren’t going to say it out loud, but they’re gonna have a private meeting.” — Don Cusic, a Belmont University professor and country music historian 
Cusic said that in the wake of mass shootings, some country artists changed their tune about teaming up with the NRA — privately and more publicly.
“They went from seeing the NRA as an opportunity in terms of marketing, publicity and tour support money to a big liability,” Cusic said. “And they are going to avoid that. They aren’t going to say it out loud, but they’re gonna have a private meeting.”
Certain country artists have been vocal on gun control. Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line, the hit duo that NRA Country once publicized on its website, called for universal background checks on firearm sales in 2018 and faced a backlash from gun rights supporters. Eric Church, in a Rolling Stone interview, said he blamed the NRA for blocking legislation with its lobbyists and control over lawmakers. Country music couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill called for “common sense” gun control legislation, and Rosanne Cash wrote an op-ed in the New York Times asking country musicians to publicly stand up to the NRA’s efforts to form an alliance with the country music audience.
The NRA Country website that once listed dozens of country artists now doesn’t name any artist.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

DON'T MISS

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

DON'T MISS

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

DON'T MISS

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

DON'T MISS

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

DON'T MISS

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

DON'T MISS

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

UP NEXT

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

UP NEXT

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

UP NEXT

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

UP NEXT

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

UP NEXT

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

UP NEXT

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

UP NEXT

Rams Take Oregon Tight End Terrance Ferguson in Second Round After Trading Out of First

UP NEXT

The Latest: Francis Is Remembered as a ‘Pope Among the People’ as He Is Laid to Rest

UP NEXT

Trump Now Doubts Putin Wants to End Ukraine War, a Day After Saying a Deal Was Close

UP NEXT

Virginia Giuffre, Voice in Epstein Sex Trafficking Scandal, Dies at 41

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

1 day ago

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

1 day ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

1 day ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

2 days ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

2 days ago

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

2 days ago

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

2 days ago

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

2 days ago

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

2 days ago

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

2 days ago

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

It was with brash confidence that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that by 2035, the only new cars and light trucks sold in California would be e...

16 hours ago

16 hours ago

Will California Meet Newsom’s 2035 EV Deadline? It Won’t Even Hit the 2026 Target 

1 day ago

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

1 day ago

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

1 day ago

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

1 day ago

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

1 day ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

2 days ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

2 days ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend