Country Artists Urge Fans to ‘Get Upset’ Following Parkland, Fla., School Shooting
Just four and a half months after 58 country music fans died in a mass shooting at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nev., a 19-year-old former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday (Feb. 14), killing at least 17 people. In the hours following the tragedy, numerous country artists have used social media to send their love and prayers to the affected community -- and some have expressed their disgust that such incidents have not prompted action from lawmakers.
"This is not the America we are capable of," Cam tweeted on Wednesday evening. "Please get upset."
"Congress does nothing," Margo Price wrote. "We are failing our children."
"I wonder how long it will take our government to do anything at all," added Jennifer Nettles, who has a 5-year-old son. "I wonder how loudly the voices of every mother in the country can scream 'til they do."
The suspect in the Parkland school shooting has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He used an AR-15 rifle that was purchased legally, Peter J. Forcelli, a special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Miami, Fla., tells the New York Times.
"I'm so ashamed that this is who we are. We don't care enough about the lives of children to prevent the purchase of assault rifles," tweeted Rosanne Cash early Thursday morning (Feb. 15). For years, Cash has been vocal in speaking out against the National Rifle Association and for gun control; following the Route 91 shooting, she voiced her opinions in an op-ed for the New York Times.
In 2018 alone, there have been 18 school shootings in the United States, according to the organization Everytown for Gun Safety. According to CNN, three of the U.S.' 10 deadliest mass shootings have taken place in the last five months.