Florida Georgia Line Challenges Musician Friends to End Gun Violence
Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard is a gun owner, but he's also one who is deeply invested in making gun ownership safer. The singer is participating in TOMS' End Gun Violence Together campaign, posting social media videos that not only show his personal support of the cause, but also urging his peers in country music to do the same.
Hubbard initially posted a clip on Thursday (Nov. 29) explaining his stance, which he stressed was "not political" and simply calls for universal background checks as a measure of sensible gun control—"something more than 90% of Americans agree on." He directed fans to TOMS' website, which offers an easy option to send a postcard to local representatives asking them to pass this particular legislation.
Hubbard upped the stakes on Saturday (Dec. 1) by posting yet another video, and this time tagging a large number of country music peers—everyone from Jason Aldean to Carrie Underwood—asking them to consider posting their own videos, as well.
"I know we've all been affected by gun violence, either directly or indirectly," Hubbard notes in the video. "It's our time to take a stand and come together. I know a lot of you guys are on the fence about posting a video, but I just want to challenge you."
He went on to urge his fellow musicians (and viewers) to repost his video, or shoot their own, to help spread the word.
In the 10 days since TOMS shoe company founder Blake Mycoskie announced a wide-ranging campaign to end gun violence, more than 600,000 have signed on to help him, including Hubbard and Dierks Bentley. A variety of celebrities from other genres and formats, including Joe Jonas, Ryan Seacrest and actor Josh Duhamel, have also shown support for the campaign.
TOMS has donated $5 million to organizations that are committed to addressing gun violence "through various tactics including programming in communities of color, mental health, research and policy, suicide prevention, and more."
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