Country music fans are reacting to CMT’s recent support for gun control—and they aren’t happy.
On June 4, just a few days before the annual CMT awards show, the official CMT Twitter account posted an image from Everytown for Gun Safety claiming that 100 Americans are killed with guns every day.
“We’re (virtually) wearing orange today in support National Gun Violence Awareness Day and to call attention to the more than 100 lives that are lost every day to gun violence. #WearOrange and visit wearorange.org for more,” the station tweeted last week.
We’re (virtually) wearing orange today in support National Gun Violence Awareness Day and to call attention to the more than 100 lives that are lost every day to gun violence. #WearOrange and visit https://t.co/yCVs91toXw for more. pic.twitter.com/Ir1tsENn1W
— CMT (@CMT) June 4, 2021
As fans of the station pointed out on Twitter, the #wearorange campaign is a project of Everytown for Gun Safety, one of the most anti-gun organizations in the country. Everytown was founded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and supports banning and confiscating semi-automatic rifles, prohibiting private sales of firearms, and a host of other gun regulations.
Fans voiced their disapproval in the comments.
I no longer support CMT. Good riddance to another woke support group, out of touch with their audience.
— Darcy Shaw (@ddshaw1125_shaw) June 9, 2021
Sorry to have run across this on the day of the show. Looks like I’ve seen my last CMT Awards show as well as watching CMT. I’ll continue to follow country music (especially the songwriters); but I’ll listen to & watch country music elsewhere, mostly live in Nashville, it appears
— Archie Jordan (@ajjordan_62) June 9, 2021
Well I hope you are getting the point #CMT. No one supports #bloomburg and the anti-Constitutional agenda. Plus we want REAL country music back!!
— nightdiva (@nightdiva) June 7, 2021
SEE ALSO: Madonna Partners with Everytown for Bizarre Video: Gun Control Should Be ‘Mandatory,’ Guns ‘Outlawed’
Others pointed out the misleading nature of the statistic CMT posted.
First off 100 lives per day is a LIE, the actual number is closer to 35 and 90% of those are gang related.
— Chuck (@chucknorris1701) June 8, 2021
I prefer to support the 2nd Amendment and the 2 million+ lives SAVED each year with self defense firearms.
The gun-control movement has come out in support of CMT, and many of the most recent comments on the post express agreement with the station’s position. But before the tweet garnered national media attention, the Los Angeles Times conducted an informal audit of fan response, and concluded that 95% of the commenters disagreed with CMT’s gun control position.
“A survey of the first 100 direct responses on the channel’s page showed an overwhelming majority unhappy with the message. Among the 100, only four were supportive, one neutral, and 95 disapproving,” the outlet reported.
Gun-control groups welcomed CMT with open arms.
SEE ALSO: Dave Bautista Defends Biden’s Record on Guns, Calls People ‘Idiots’ For Using AR-15 for Self-Defense
Shannon Watts, founder of the gun-control organization Moms Demand Action (a part of Everytown for Gun Safety), told the Los Angeles Times, “We’re proud to see such broad support from all across the country, including by CMT, to raise awareness and work to end gun violence. Because the fact is, the vast majority of Americans — including gun owners — support common sense gun safety laws to save lives.”
Despite the conservative leanings of country music fans, some of the top pop-country artists have expressed support for gun control. These include Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Eric Church, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.
CMT isn’t the only major American brand to totally misread its audience in recent years. In 2019, NASCAR rejected gun-related ads for its souvenir programs from multiple firearms companies, earning the ire of the gun industry and the National Rifle Association.
The CMT awards show is scheduled to be held tonight, June 9.