NRA Supporter Blake Shelton Asked To Join Julianne Moore’s Campaign Against Gun Violence In Wake Of Christina Grimmie Death
Blake Shelton and Adam Levine both used Twitter to share their reactions to the tragic death of The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie, who was shot and killed while signing autographs after a concert in Orlando, Florida. Actress Julianne Moore responded to Blake’s tweet about Christina’s passing by asking The Voice coach to join the Everytown for Gun Safety campaign to end gun violence, but would doing so conflict with Blake’s past support for the National Rifle Association (NRA)?
Early Saturday morning, Blake Shelton joined Christina Grimmie’s grieving fans on Twitter.
“I’m stunned and disgusted and heartbroken that we lost that sweet little girl… Keeping @TheRealGrimmie family in my heart and mind,” Blake tweeted.
Read what The Voice’s @xtina & @blakeshelton said about Christina Grimmie’s death: https://t.co/9wHv9JGlkS pic.twitter.com/n6ICAeajsg
— Just Jared Jr. (@justjaredjr) June 11, 2016
As Gossip Cop reports, Actress Julianne Moore responded to Blake’s tweet by asking him and his fellow Voice coach Adam Levine to take action by using their celebrity to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.
“@blakeshelton @adamlevine pls consider joining @Everytown @MomsDemand we could use your voices #EndGunViolence,” Moore wrote. Her plea included a retweet of Blake Shelton’s words about Christina Grimmie’s passing.
@_juliannemoore asks #TheVoice stars to join @Everytown for gun safety after #ChristinaGrimmie‘s death: https://t.co/pMhE5wXkFR
— Wonderwall (@Wonderwall) June 11, 2016
Julianne Moore is one of the many celebrity members of Everytown for Gun Safety, one of the two anti-gun violence groups mentioned in her tweet. In addition to famous faces like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, and Ellen DeGeneres, Everytown’s members include survivors of gun violence and men and women who have lost loved ones to gun violence.
According to Mother Jones, one of Everytown’s main objectives is to diminish the amount of political pull that the NRA currently enjoys making it easier for communities to pass common-sense gun laws. Everytown was formed in founded in 2014 by combining Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Moms Demand Action was launched in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, a mass shooting that left 20 schoolchildren and six school staff members dead. In response to the tragedy, Blake Shelton tweeted his support for gun owners.
“The killing of defenseless people and innocent children. I’m sad and sickened. This is why we all should be prepared to defend and guard,” Blake wrote, according to Popdust. He later deleted the tweet.
Blake Shelton has also shown his love for guns by hosting celebrity shoots for NRA Country, which the Guardian describes as “the lifestyle brand offshoot of the NRA that fosters partnerships between the National Rifle Association and the country music industry.” During the 2011 NRA Country/ACM Celebrity Shoot at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Blake told critics of his pro-gun views to kiss his a**.
“I had mentioned to a couple tree-huggers out there [in L.A.] that I was gonna come out here and do an NRA Country skeet shoot,” Blake said. “They said, ‘Man, you’re gonna go out and shoot guns? You’re a celebrity now. Don’t you think that’s a little irresponsible to be shooting guns? You’re supposed to be a role model.’ I want to dedicate this song to that person.”
“Because if you don’t think that I ought to be shooting guns and bragging about my right to keep and bear arms, then you can kiss my country a**, man.”
Everytown isn’t completely against the NRA, and it even applauds the organization’s gun safety programs. However, it takes issue with the gun rights group’s efforts to overturn gun laws. In a lengthy report titled “Not Your Grandparents’ NRA,” Everytown explains how the NRA has made it easier for felons to purchase guns and more difficult for communities to fight gun crime.
According to the Everytown for Gun Safety website, the group isn’t trying to get the Second Amendment repealed or completely rid America of firearms; Everytown simply wants to enact laws that keep the deadly weapons out of the hands of dangerous people like the shooter who killed Christina Grimmie.
Blake Shelton is yet to respond to Julianne Moore’s request to join Everytown.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]
