Congress has dawdled long enough on gun violence

From Georgia comes a hopeful reply to the underwhelming news that the U.S. House passed an assault weapons ban.

It was the first such ban in 30 years, dating back to Bill Clinton’s presidency.

Yet within the first few lines of every news story covering the bill, came the necessary disclaimer that the legislation has zero chance of becoming law in the evenly-divided Senate.

No, not on the Senate’s watch, right-wing members of which continue to preach undivided loyalty to the Second Amendment.

Here’s how The Washington Post put it: “The bill faces virtually no chance of passage in an evenly split Senate. The passage of an assault weapons ban is a significant feat for any chamber of Congress.”

It’s a necessary statement for context, followed by an acknowledgment that even getting this far deserves a few fist bumps. Let’s grade it an E for effort!

The House vote was 217-213 along party lines, except for the defection of two Republicans who cast “yes” votes.

But a few days later, organizers announced that a more than 25-yearold music festival in Atlanta won’t happen this year largely because Georgia’s conservative lawmakers recently passed legislation making it difficult to legally prevent people from toting guns at the two-day event.

It’s an example of how Republican zeal for the Second Amendment will start to crash against what happens locally.

The result? Economic and touristic fallout.

Jack White, Future and Fall Out Boy will not be performing in Atlanta this fall.

Georgia has a law similar to those in other Republican-led states, which have increasingly moved to lessen restrictions on gun ownership, as well as where weapons can be legally carried.

Music Midtown drew 50,000 people in 2021, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution and through the years has included big-name acts like Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Eminem, Van Halen, Post Malone, Bruno Mars and Miley Cyrus.

The city-owned Piedmont Park was the venue. The location became problematic for organizers who realized they might have to fend off lawsuits challenging any firearm ban they try to impose. That’s due to a 2014 state law allowing firearms on public land.

Somebody — or more likely the marketing and legal teams behind organizer Live Nation — hedged their bets and decided that going forward with the September event wasn’t worth the potential legal headaches.

That decision can’t be pleasing to fans or businesses counting on revenues from the event, or the city, which capitalizes on the vibe of Atlanta as a music metropolis.

Here’s how a very healthy pushback to Republicans will start:

Increasingly, insurance groups are requiring that organizers ban weapons at similar big-draw public events. And recording artists are putting such safeguards into their contract agreements.

Those pressures, especially coming from the powerful insurance lobby, could begin to make a difference where Congress is not . ...

There are ramifications to congressional inaction, as well as to the inaction of their like-minded handmaidens at the state government level.

Congratulations, Congress. You’ve dawdled long enough on addressing gun violence in substantial ways. The payback is brewing. And it’s starting at the local level.