Move over baseball. America, it seems, has a new pastime: Ripping to shreds any person who has an opinion different than your own. From the moment Tim McGraw announced that 100% of the proceeds from his July 17th concert in Hartford, Connecticut were going to benefit Sandy Hook Promise; a group whose purpose is to try and find ways to prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook from ever happening again, the internet exploded.
Gun rights advocates criticized McGraw for supporting a group that allegedly supports gun control (Interestingly, the Sandy Hook Promise mission statement seemingly says nothing of the kind). Gun control advocates criticized him for being a gun owner himself. It appeared as though no good deed could go unpunished.
Personally, prior to the concert I would have described myself as a casual McGraw fan, which is to say I knew 5 or 6 of his songs and enjoyed watching him in the films, Friday Nights Lights and The Blind Side, along with thinking he seemed like a decent person in every interview I had read or seen. Full disclosure is that I am also a die hard Mets fan and used to emulate McGraw’s father, Tug McGraw, by pounding my glove off my leg and screaming “You Gotta Believe!” during neighborhood baseball games. I also live in Connecticut and have spent plenty of time in the Newtown/Sandy Hook area, having even taught in the high school many years back. So you can imagine the Sandy Hook tragedy hit pretty close to home.
However, on the topic of gun rights/control, I don’t have much of an opinion because I try to make it a habit to not have one in areas where I am lacking expertise or knowledge. Without concrete evidence one way or another, I would tend to fall on the side of not interfering with basic human rights as provided in the Constitution, but I can’t say as I have strong feelings as to how best to accomplish the goal that I think all sides would agree on–human safety. Apparently, evidence was not a concern for those who were vocally critical of McGraw. To his credit, when the excrement hit the fan, most people ran for cover (i.e. Billy Currington. Who IS Billy Currington anyway?), but McGraw (along with the energetic and charismatic Chase Bryant) stood his ground. “As a gun owner, I support gun ownership,” he said, “I also believe that with gun ownership comes the responsibility of education and safety–most certainly when it relates to what we value most, our children. I can’t imagine anyone who disagrees with that.” Who in their right mind would argue against gun EDUCATION and SAFETY? I suppose that is a rhetorical question.
McGraw played last night to a packed house in Hartford and got it right by doing so. Not because he sounded terrific. Or because his band was amazing. Or even that he was charismatic without once preaching to the audience, with females aged 10 to 70 swooning every time he smiled. No, he got it right because by playing he stood up for something even greater than the 2nd Amendment–the FIRST Amendment–“freedom of speech”. When did the land of the free become so intolerant of varied opinions? In the end, it matters not which side of the issue you fall on. You can agree, disagree or agree to disagree. But to ridicule someone who views things differently than you do is not only counter productive, it seems to go against the very grounds on which this country was founded. Yes, Tim McGraw got it right, and in doing so, turned a casual fan into a lifelong one.