Country stars distance themselves from the National Rifle Association

Date:

Two of America’s biggest country music stars have distanced themselves from the National Rifle Association.

It’s after Stephen Paddock killed 58 and injured hundreds of country music fans when he opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas.

Traditionally country music and gun culture have had a strong friendship.

With the genre even having its own division of the rifle association called NRA Country which sponsors tours and artists.

But now platinum-selling duo Florida Georgia Line and chart topper Thomas Rhett both have disappeared from the NRA Country website this week.

Both FGL and Thomas Rhett had previously been featured as the NRA’s country artist of the month.

Other country musicians are also speaking out about gun control.

And it’s left many fans wondering if this could be the start of a movement.

Thomas Rhett

Caleb Keeter, the guitarist for the Josh Abbott band, who performed at the festival that Stephen Paddock targeted, said he was “wrong” about gun laws.

He’d always been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment – the part of the US constitution that protects the right to have weapons.

But in an open letter to fans on Twitter he said, “Until the events of last night, I cannot express how wrong I was.”

The Director of NRA Country said in 2015, “It’s no secret, if you poll our members, they love country music.”

According to Rolling Stone magazine, several of the NRA’s artists have decided to clarify their relationship with the organisation.

They claim country star Blake Shelton, partner of Gwen Stefani, has also cut ties with the NRA.

This is a Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani

The last time NRA Country faced any degree of scrutiny came after Sandy Hook elementary-school shooting in Conneticut back in 2012.

Superstar Luke Bryan was removed from NRA Country’s website after that.

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Note: This story is auto-generated from BBC syndicated feed and has not been edited by AFRICA PRIME NEWS

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