Don Mclean has dropped out of his National Rifle Association Convention performance “in light" of the second deadliest school mass shooting in US history.
Don McLean has pulled out his NRA convention performance
The ‘American Pie’ singer-songwriter will no longer do the Houston show put on by the gun pressure group, the NRA - where Lee Greenwood, Danielle Peck and Larry Gatlin are billed to perform - as it would be “disrespectful and hurtful” after 19 children and two teachers were shot dead at Robb Elementary School by an 18-year-old mass shooter in the Texas city of Uvalde.
The 76-year-old musician told TMZ: “In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week. I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans."
Don offered his “sorrow” for the tragedy, which comes after numerous similar incidents across the United States.
He added: "I share the sorrow for this terrible, cruel loss with the rest of the nation."
Various celebrities have spoken out against the senseless violence, such as actor Matthew McConaughey - who hails from the town where the shooting took place.
The 52-year-old actor said: "As you all are aware there was another mass shooting today, this time in my home town of Uvalde, Texas.
"Once again, we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us.
"This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better.”
In addition, to the Academy Award winner, Kim Kardashian also condemned the violence, calling into question the relevance of the keeping such a rigid reading of the US constitution as AR-15s - the military-grade weapon used in most of the deadliest school mass shootings, such as at Newton’s Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 and Parkland’s Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 - “didn’t even exist”.
The 41-year-old reality television personality said: ““Assault weapons didn’t even exist when the Second Amendment was written. We have to stop allowing people to use a sentence written centuries ago when technology, times, humanity were completely different, to dictate how we regulate gun ownership, how we protect our kids today.”
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