Country artists rethink gun rights
Country music has long idealized the gun-owning lifestyle. From Johnny Cash in "Folsom Prison Blues" to Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead" and Blake Shelton's "Granddaddy's Gun," the genre's stars have harnessed gun imagery to bolster their outlaw credibility, connect them with kindred fans and conjure a specific image of Americans - self-reliant and violent.
But after a mass shooter killed himself and at least 58 people at Las Vegas' Route 91 Harvest country music festival, voices questioning loose gun laws have emerged from within the country music community, even at the risk of alienating fans.
"I've been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night," Caleb Keeter, guitarist for the Josh Abbott Band, wrote on social media after the shooting.
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