Target goes gun-free, becoming
biggest US
retailer asking customers to disarmBy Patrik Jonsson
The Christian Science Monitor
Moms Demand Action has launched online
petitions against corporations after members of open-carry groups brought
loaded assault-style firearms into stores. In the case of Target,
400,000 signatures were collected.
The decision by Target, one of America’s
largest retailers, to ask its customers to please not carry firearms to its
stores anymore marks another surprising victory for gun control
groups, which have rallied for attention and impact after the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre.
Moms Demand Action, a part of the
Everytown for Gun Safety consortium, which is funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, now has six notches in its belt after
targeting major corporations with online petitions and protests. In the case of
Target, 400,000 signatures were collected. Chili’s, Starbucks, Chipotle, Sonic,
and Jack in the Box have all responded to petitions by specifically asking
customers to shop and/or eat unarmed.
Target is by far the biggest retailer to
date to concede to the demands of Moms Demand Action. Target’s competitor
Wal-Mart is the country’s largest firearms seller and has noted that it doesn’t
plan to make any policy changes on gun carry.
The petitions have come in response to
demonstrations by so-called open-carry groups where members bring loaded
assault-style firearms into stores. Those tactics have sparked a rare public
backlash against public gun carry and introspection among gun owners in a country
where states recently have, on the whole, pushed laws strengthening gun and
self-defense rights.
To be sure, gun rights groups point out
that some recent corporate policy changes are meaningless since they don’t
actually ban guns, but simply request nicely that customers don’t bring them.
But after the pressure on corporations like Starbucks and
now Target to change their policy on guns, it’s clear that what Moms Demand
Action calls its “common-sense” approach on the Second Amendment is winning
converts, and at least shifting the weight slightly on the long-running tug of
war between pro-gun lobbyists like the National Rifle Association and gun
control and antiviolence organizations.
“Moms everywhere were horrified to see
images of people carrying loaded assault rifles down the same aisles where we
shop for diapers and toys,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action,
after Target’s announcement Wednesday. “... Target recognized that moms are a
powerful customer base and political force – and you can respect the 2nd
Amendment and the safety of customers at the same time."
The open-carry demonstrations and ensuing
petitions have been discomfiting for US corporations, which have in the past
mostly allowed local ordinances to dictate whether customers could bring guns
to their stores. Target, especially, is in a tough spot after alienating some
of its customer base with its handling of a massive data breach that took place
around Thanksgiving last year.
Coming out with an antigun policy is a
potentially risky move that could alienate large swaths of the buying public.
But in the end, Target could have been more worried about the effects of a
month-long #OffTarget social media campaign, urging mothers to shop at other
stores until Target changed its policy. The retailer’s stock price rose
slightly Wednesday on the news.
“This is a complicated issue, but it boils
down to a simple belief: Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment
that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive
to create,” Target interim CEO John Mulligan said on the company blog.
“[S]tarting today we will … respectfully request that guests not bring firearms
to Target – even in communities where it is permitted by law.”
Target has 1,700 stores in the United States
and made about $70 billion in revenue last year. It doesn’t sell firearms.
The NRA, in a blog post in May, chastised
open-carry demonstrations as “weird” and ultimately damaging to gun rights. But
chief NRA lobbyist Chris Cox later walked back those comments, saying that
calling open-carry protests “weird or somehow not normal was a mistake.”
After Target’s announcement, at least some
gun owners acknowledged that the move suggests gun control groups are winning
this battle.
“They have been generating outrage and
delivering it to companies who will listen. We have been sitting on blogs
complaining about [Open Carry Texas], open carry, the state of Texas, and
anything else we can think of to make ourselves feel superior while the antis
were – quite effectively – lobbying for a policy change,” writes “Dave,” a
commenter on the well-read “Shall Not Be Questioned” blog. “Their strategy was
superior. [T]hat’s a bitter pill, but the fact is the other side beat us at a
game we have traditionally owned.”
2012 Sandy
Hook school massacre
2012
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a mass shootings 28 killed,
including gunman.
Martin
Feinberg is a Newtown (CT)
resident, and Stephen A. Feinberg is his son.
Stephen
A. Feinberg is Martin Feinberg’s
son, the CEO for Cerberus Capital Management L.P.,
and a trustee at the Public Theater.
Rumor Control: The Truth About
Cerberus/Freedom Group
Posted on July 20, 2012
An old rumor has once again resurfaced
alleging that Cerberus--the private equity firm that owns Freedom group, a
holding company that in turn owns a number of firearms manufacturers, including
Remington, Marlin, Bushmaster, and DPMS--is in some way tied to George Soros.
Cerberus
Capital Management L.P. is the owner of the Freedom
Group.
Bushmaster
Firearms is a Freedom Group
brand.
Remington
is a Freedom Group brand.
Michael
P.C. Carns is a director at the Freedom Group,
and was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), the Human Rights Watch,
and the American Constitution Society.
George Soros
is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations,
a board member for the International Crisis Group,
a director emeritus at Refugees International,
was a benefactor at the Human Rights Watch,
the chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights
Watch, Refugees International,
the Committee for Economic Development, the
Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Joanne
Leedom-Ackerman was a director at the Human Rights Watch,
a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor,
a board member for the International Crisis Group,
and a director at Refugees International.
Stephen
W. Sanger is a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and was a director at the Target
Corporation.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
was a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, a director at Gannett Co., Inc., is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a
director at the Target Corporation, a director at the
American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank) and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Solomon D.
Trujillo was a director at Gannett Co., Inc., a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and is a director at the Target Corporation.
Cyrus
F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
James S.
Crown is a member of the Commercial Club
of Chicago, and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank), and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Mellody
L. Hobson is a member of the Commercial Club
of Chicago, and a director at the Starbucks
Corporation.
Richard
M. Daley is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
a director at the Coca-Cola Company,
and Michelle Obama was his staffer.
NRA-ILA Richard M. Daley’s Gun Control
History)
Mary E. Minnick
was the EVP for the Coca-Cola Company,
and is a director at the Target Corporation.
Mary N.
Dillon was the EVP for the Coca-Cola Company,
a director at the Target Corporation,
and is a Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP,
Mayor Richard M. Daley’s staffer, and her
brother is Craig M. Robinson.
Faith
Elizabeth Gay was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP,
is a trustee at the Public Theater,
and a director at the American Constitution
Society.
Stephen
A. Feinberg is a trustee at the Public Theater,
Martin Feinberg’s son, and the
CEO for Cerberus Capital Management L.P.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N. Minow
is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Penny S.
Pritzker is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, the secretary at the U.S. Department of
Commerce for the Barack Obama administration, married to Bryan
Traubert, was the national
finance chair, fundraiser for the 2008 Barack Obama
presidential campaign, a co-chair for the 2009 Barack
Obama inaugural committee, a fundraiser, national co-chair for the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign, a contributor for
the 2013 Barack Obama inaugural committee,
the host for the Barack Obama fund-raising dinner, 7/2/2008,
and Craig M. Robinson’s basketball coach
for the children's team.
Bryan
Traubert is married to Penny S. Pritzker,
and a director at the National Park Foundation.
Ken Salazar
was the chairman for the National Park Foundation,
the secretary at the U.S. Department of the
Interior for the Barack Obama
administration, and is a director at the Target
Corporation.
Elizabeth
Frawley Bagley is a director at the National Park Foundation,
and an advisory council member for the Acumen Fund.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Acumen Fund.
Andrea Soros
is a director at the Acumen Fund,
and George Soros’s daughter.
George Soros
is Andrea Soros’s father, was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society,
and a benefactor at the Harlem Children's Zone.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Harlem
Children's Zone, and the Robin Hood Foundation.
Michael
R. Bloomberg was a benefactor at the Harlem Children's Zone,
a donor for the Robin Hood Foundation, the New York (NY) mayor, a donor for the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, and is a co-chair for Mayors
Against Illegal Guns.
NRA-ILA (Michael Bloomberg’s Gun
Control History)
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Acumen Fund,
the Committee for Economic Development, the
Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee
for Economic Development, the Brookings
Institution (think tank),
and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society,
Stephen
W. Sanger is a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and was a director at the Target
Corporation.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
was a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, a director at Gannett Co., Inc., is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a
director at the Target Corporation, a director at
the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank) and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Sheryl
K. Sandberg was a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and is a director at the Starbucks Corporation.
Solomon D.
Trujillo was a director at Gannett Co., Inc., a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and is a director at the Target Corporation.
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