In an effort to steer gun-owning consumers away from businesses and brand names that support efforts to erode their Second Amendment rights, the names and CEOs of nearly 200 American businesses are now listed on a website by one of the leading gun rights organizations in the country.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms—the grassroots activism “sister organization” to the Second Amendment Foundation—has launched an effort it calls “Don’t Feed the Gun Prohibitionists.” As it first appeared on the committee’s website, nearly 180 companies are listed, along with the names of their CEOs, above this message: “Don’t Have Buyer’s Remorse! Make the decision with your wallet to fight against firearm prohibition.”
The campaign comes at a time when many businesses are trying to make a comeback from the COVID-19 shutdown. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb told Liberty Park Press that companies willing to support efforts that ratchet down on the rights of their customers should be exposed.
“Businesses that advocate or take a position of opposition to gun rights should recognize that the gun rights community will vote with their wallets,” Gottlieb said in a prepared statement.
There are some highly recognizable names on the list so far, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Burger King, Costco, Delta Airlines, Hallmark, Levi Strauss, Progressive Insurance, Yelp, Sara Lee, the Hard Rock Cafe and Microsoft. The CCRKBA national headquarters in Bellevue, Washington is located only a few miles from the Microsoft campus in neighboring Redmond.
While CCRKBA may not be nearly as high-profile as SAF, the organization boasts some 650,000 members and supporters nationwide. It has been around more than 40 years, usually working quietly behind the scenes with state and local affiliates on gun rights issues.
“Many brand name businesses and corporate leadership have a nefarious agenda to limit gun rights,” Gottlieb said. “Their current and potential patrons should have the knowledge of what their hard earned dollars are actually funding.
“A free market dictates the right of consumers to know about the products they purchase,” he continued, “and we encourage people buy products from companies they can count on to not support efforts aimed at curtailing constitutional rights. By providing this information, we hope gun owning consumers make reasonable decisions about which businesses to patronize. This might convince some businesses to re-think their core values.”
It’s not that gun owners want businesses to comply with their philosophy, he indicated. It’s just that CCRKBA thinks gun owners should know a company’s position on their rights, so they might patronize a different business.
“Businesses and the people who own them can support whatever kind of philosophy they want,” Gottlieb said, “and gun owning consumers can likewise not spend any money with those firms. Let the marketplace decide.”
