Music

The cancellation of Music Midtown will cost Georgia’s economy $50 million.

It's shameful, but not surprising, that the governor cares more about protecting dangerous people carrying guns in public than saving jobs and keeping business in Georgia. pic.twitter.com/8cAECHE7IF

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) August 1, 2022

TL; DR, per Axios:

… Why it matters: Owned by Live Nation, the outdoor concert series is one of metro Atlanta’s largest cultural events and attracts local and regional crowds.

What’s happening: This morning, festival organizers said they were “looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can all get back to enjoying the festival together again soon.”

What they’re saying: “Public policy has real impacts and in this case- economic and social implications on a great tradition,” Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman tweeted…

What we’re watching: Whether organizers of festivals like the upcoming ONE Music Fest and Shaky Knees — both of which are held in Central Park, also a public greenspace — will change plans or relocate to private venues not covered by the law…

Before anyone accuses Music Midtown of being political, please remember: they literally cannot hold the festival if they can’t honor artists’ riders. And most, if not all, of those riders would include a weapons ban at the venue. https://t.co/oZD7VF9aFu

— Stephanie Archambeau (@starchambeau) August 1, 2022

The cancelation is a major blow to the city of Atlanta’s tourism trade and the city’s mystique as a music mecca. #gapol #atlpol https://t.co/QIw4AbW3mg

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) August 1, 2022

Here's the background, written by my very long term friend John Ruch at Saporta. Read him. He is wise.https://t.co/HGJ0N2bEJ5

— George Chidi — The Atlanta Objective (@neonflag) July 29, 2022

… In 2014, Evans deliberately tested a firearms ban at the Botanical Garden, which occupies a large section of Piedmont Park. After being kicked out, he and GA2A (then known as GeorgiaCarry.org) sued. After a long and complex legal battle — including two trips to the Supreme Court of Georgia — the Botanical Garden won early this year in a decision from the Georgia Court of Appeals.

But the legal reasoning that allowed the Garden to ban guns also means that Music Midtown cannot, Evans and Monroe say. The core ruling in the legal battle came in the 2019 Georgia Supreme Court case GeorgiaCarry.org v. Atlanta Botanical Garden. The Court ruled that a private tenant on publicly owned land can ban guns only if it has a type of lease called an “estate for years,” a typically long-term deal that grants it some property rights and responsibilities, such as erecting buildings and paying property taxes. Short-term tenants in another type of lease deal known as a “usufruct” have no such private property rights and cannot ban guns, the Court ruled.

Evans eventually lost because the Court of Appeals later determined that the Garden — which has been in the park for decades and has a 50-year lease — indeed has an estate-for-years status. Music Midtown, a two-day annual festival, likely does not have that kind of deal…

Atlanta residents: He’s not even *from* here!

Sources tell Channel 2 that a Monroe County man is challenging public events that stop people from carrying weapons in public places. https://t.co/3VfqP27V81

— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) August 2, 2022

Who, little me?

Activist Phil Evans on FB: pic.twitter.com/jfipreDfxx

— Chuck Roberts (@nmmi68) August 1, 2022