In 2013, after finalizing its purchase of NBCUniversal, cable giant Comcast announced that it would no longer run advertisements for firearms and ammunition.
“This is a really brave move for Comcast, and I give them a standing ovation,” said a spokesperson for activist group Moms Demand Action at the time. “Advertising has such a huge impact on public opinion, and we’re really at a tipping point in the gun violence conversation.”
It was hard to see the bravery in Comcast’s decision, though, considering how typical the policy really was. Comcast joined Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Fox, ESPN, and the NFL, to name just a few corporations who either refuse to accept gun ads or curtail their content with significant restrictions. In the three years since, companies like Panera Bread, Starbucks, and Target have gone further – banning guns on the premises, even when they are otherwise protected by state law. These bans, not coincidentally, came on the heels of considerable pressure from groups like MDA.
Earlier this year, Facebook and its photo-sharing subsidiary Instagram announced that private sellers would no longer be allowed to use the social media sites to advertise guns. Critics couldn’t help but notice the timing of the announcement, coming only three weeks after President Obama’s executive orders which aimed to close the much-ballyhooed gun-show loophole.
Liberals have learned how to use the power of corporate America for their own twisted agenda. Despite democratic elections, referendums, and constitutional protections, companies like Wal-Mart, PayPal, Angie’s List, Apple, and the NBA have thwarted religious freedom by threatening states with economic destruction. It’s not too early to wonder what could happen to our gun rights if these companies decided to expand their influence beyond transgender bathroom rights.
The right kind of propaganda can persuade people to see “rights” as a fluid and flexible concept. Ask a hardened liberal what they believe about the Second Amendment and you’ll witness some of the finest linguistic gymnastics this side of Bill Clinton. When enough people think that only a “militia” has the right to bear arms, Democrats have already won the ballgame.
Over the coming months and years, we’ll be called upon to scrutinize corporate America with as much intensity as we scrutinize Democrats. What good is the right to carry if every store is a “gun-free zone”? What chance does the pro-gun argument have when it is no longer allowed in the mainstream media? President Obama has turned the National Rifle Association into a legendary embodiment of evil through his rhetoric; how long will it be before sympathetic corporations pour millions of dollars into opposing pro-liberty gun legislation?
Even our most fundamental rights can wither away under certain conditions. Let us not stand idly by and watch while a handful of powerful conglomerates dictate those conditions.
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