A crowd attends the Music Midtown Festival at Piedmont Park in Atlanta on September 16, 2018. Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP Hide Caption
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Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP
A crowd attends the Music Midtown Festival at Piedmont Park in Atlanta on September 16, 2018.
Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP
Organizers of Music Midtown, a major festival in Atlanta, announced Monday that the two-day event originally scheduled for next month is being cancelled. Although the official announcement cites “circumstances beyond our control,” local media reports that the reason for the cancellation is an unexpected one: gun laws in Georgia.
According to Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University, this scenario points to a problematic gray area in Georgia’s gun laws.
Generally, if a gun owner wants to bring a gun into a public park or other public place, the state’s law protects the person’s right to do so, Lytton said. Private property, such as a private university or corporation, is entitled under certain circumstances to prevent a person from importing a firearm, he said.
“And now we have an unclear case: what happens if you have a privately organized concert, but in a very public place like a city park? Is this a private event? Or is this a public place? And the answer to that is a little unclear,” Lytton told NPR.
Music Midtown takes place in Piedmont Park – a public park not far from downtown Atlanta. Headliners included My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Future and Jack White.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, sources familiar with the decision said Music Midtown canceled the event due to a recent court ruling that could limit organizers’ ability to ban guns during the festival.
The news agency said a recent Georgia appeals court ruling made it harder for private groups to prevent gun owners from bringing their guns to “temporary events” on public lands. The appeals court ruling related specifically to the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s ability to ban guns on the property.
Music Midtown organizers do not specifically comment on these reports and have not responded to NPR’s request for comment.
Organizers wrote on the canceled event’s website and social media: “Hey Midtown fans – due to circumstances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be held this year. We’ve been looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can all come back to enjoy the celebration together again soon.”
Billie Eilish performing at Music Midtown in 2019. Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP Hide Caption
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Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP
Billie Eilish performing during Music Midtown in 2019.
Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP
Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman alluded to the state’s gun laws as the reason. He tweeted about the cancellation, saying: “Public policy has a real impact and in this case economic and social impact on a great tradition.”
In the case of Music Midtown, organizers are trying to use a public venue (Piedmont Park) but would be considered short-term renters, not renting the property long-term, Lytton said. If they proceeded with a gun ban for the event, they could face a lawsuit from someone who wants to challenge that policy.
Other Georgia companies have been in similar situations, Lytton said. Fearing litigation and legal uncertainty, private organizations hosting events in public places have opted to lift all gun bans.
“My guess is that they [Music Midtown] The organizers might be nervous about what would happen in court and so they want to find a solution beforehand and make a statement on whether or not they’re going to lift the ban, so they’re going to stand by their guns so to speak and see what happens through litigation,” Lytton said .
