Remember the Sandy Hook school massacre? The one where 20 first-graders were gunned down by a crazed shooter named Adam Lanza? Yes, that one. Tim McGraw announced this week that he would be headlining a concert in Hartford, Connecticut, to benefit Sandy Hook Promise, a America-hating, gun-grabbing nonprofit group that seeks to protect kids from getting murdered, with guns. Sounds innocuous enough, right? Not for America's rabid gun-humpers! No, not even the Sandy Hook massacre was horrifying enough to get those fine patriots to reconsider their position on gun control. Those kids are just collateral damage we guess -- assuming they existed! Also scheduled to perform were Billy Currington and Chase Bryant, but oh wait, after being relentlessly attacked by wingnuts, Billy Currington has decided to be a pussy and pull out. Let's examine in further detail!

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The concert came about because Tim McGraw has a sad connection to one of the victims. McGraw explained that connection to NBC Connecticut, and why he's doing this in the first place:

“Out of this tragedy a group was formed that made a promise to honor the lives lost and turn it into a moment of transformation,” McGraw in a statement. “Sandy Hook Promise teaches that we can do something to protect our children from gun violence. I want to be a part of that promise – as a father and as a friend.”

Dean Brown, the fiddle player in McGraw’s touring band, is a longtime friend to Mark Barden, a musician and father of a Daniel Barden, who was killed in the 2012 tragedy.

That sounds very nice! This clearly means that McGraw -- who is an Obama-lovin' liberal -- wants to take all yer guns away, right? No, actually, that is not what McGraw wants to do, explaining to the Washington Post that he's actually a gun owner:

“Let me be clear regarding the concert for Sandy Hook given much of the erroneous reporting thus far. 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.”

Stop, Tim McGraw, you're making too much goddamn sense, and showing way too much human compassion. We're talking about GUN NUTS HERE. So how did right-wing media react? Breitbart, of course, thinks that gun control would never prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook, but they weren't the most hysterical. Shotgun News, whatever the fuck that is, is much more fun:

Now it could be that McGraw has made the same mistake Jay Leno made, and taken on a gig without investigating the political implications. If that’s the case, then some noise from our side may warn him off. If he’s doing it because he agrees with SHP, country fans reading this may want to edit their playlists.

That's right! Shotgun News gotta let them country singers know the fans ain't gon' cotton to no ANTI-GUN bullshit, or else I reckon we're gonna have to go stomp on their CDs behind the Piggly Wiggly! Some other gun-fondling website called Bearing Arms is threatening that Tim McGraw is "Dixie Chick"-ing himself, referring to the time the Dixie Chicks dared to express disapproval of Dear Leader George W. Bush.

And of course, they have all been attacked on the Twitter and the FaceSpace machine, etc. So Tim McGraw, no stranger to ignoring the stupider fans he and his wife Faith Hill have, is going ahead with the show. As we mentioned above, though, Billy Currington is being a pussy and pulling out, posting the following note on Facebook:

I've never been one to take on controversial issues - I'm a singer. I do feel strongly about honoring and supporting the Sandy Hook community and will be making a donation to a local organization. I appreciate people's freedom and passion for whatever cause they want to support, however, I am choosing to step aside from this fundraiser and will focus instead on the rest of the tour dates as I look forward to being on the road with Tim and Chase and having a blast with all of the fans.

He's just a singer! Country singers never (Johnny Cash) have ever (Willie Nelson) been known to make political statements (Merle Haggard) about things, no way no how (Loretta Lynn, "The Pill"). You just sit over there and look pretty, Billy Currington, that's your JOB, at least if you're part of New Country, where they write all the songs for you and tell you what to say. Don't let TWENTY DEAD KIDS get in your way, okay? Especially when this goddamn liberal group Sandy Hook Promise is trying to take away everybody's precious artificial penises guns.

Except the part about how Sandy Hook Promise is not trying to do that, at all. The "programs" section of their website has information about catching the early warning signs of mental illness, teaching kids to speak out if they think a person might put themselves or others in danger, educating on the proper way to safely store firearms, and of course, prying the guns out of wingnuts' cold dead hands in an effective, no-nonsense way. Oh wait that part is not there, unless you live in the fever dreams of the truly pathetic shitbags who are attacking Tim McGraw and who have successfully convinced Billy Currington to pick their needs over the needs of grieving families who just want to make sure first-graders are never murdered again, with guns.

Good job, wingnuts. Your guns are safe, AT LEAST FOR NOW.

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[NBC Connecticut/Washington Post via Raw Story]