Putting Money Where Our Hearts Are

Commerce can be a political act; millions remember not buying grapes or lettuce as a sign of solidarity with farm workers, the fall of apartheid in South Africa was aided by efforts to get countries to divest.  I am not immune from this; I do not shop at Wal-Mart as I don't approve of their labor practices.

The economic front in the battle for gunsense, like many struggles, is a complex one.  There are efforts underway like the "Unload Your 401K" campaign to, much like what was done against South Africa, to get people to stop having their money fund those that arm America's insurgents and back their political arm .

There's also the retail front; it has become all too common to see "Open Carry" advocates seem to invade stores, and frightened customers turn to social media to get that store to create a "No guns please" policy; Starbucks and Jack In The Box did this. But other companies seem reluctant; Home Depot, Target and Subway all find themselves under pressure to urge their customers to leave their weapons at home or in their vehicles. 

It's beginning to get hard to keep up, and keep the pressure on.  I will confess I bought Father's Day and my Mom's Birthday cards from Hallmark, a company that has been under some pressure as they do not have a policy against open carry.  

But I can see it being worthwhile as well.  Who wants to shop at a place where people are carrying rifles out in the open. This is America, not Afghanistan.  Also, businesses that allow open carry could be seen as needing to cater to the "Redneck Taliban".  I can see a store like Wal-Mart, etc doing that, but a place like Target, more associated with the suburban mother that the residents of the mobile estates?