[Imc-newsroom] Victory!!! H&R Block Severs Ties with NRA

[Peter Miller]

Organized moms kick butt.

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>Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 17:27:04 -0600
>To: <peterm at shout.net>
>From: Kathleen Brinkmann <kbrinkma at prairienet.org>
>Subject: Re: Fwd: H&R Block Severs Ties with National Rifle Association
>
>For Immediate Release                           Contacts:       Nancy Hwa 
>or Amy Stilwell
>March 12, 2002                                                  (202) 
>898-0792
>Julie Bernstein
>
> 
>(202) 822-6070
>                 Bryan Miller
>                 (856) 489-5960
>
>Gun Violence Prevention Groups Claim Victory
>H&R Block Severs Ties with National Rifle Association
>
>Washington, D.C.In a stunning defeat for the gun lobby, H&R Block, the 
>nation's largest tax preparation firm, today severed a controversial 
>marketing agreement it had entered into with the National Rifle 
>Association (NRA).  H&R Block's withdrawal from the program came as a 
>result of widespread protests spearheaded by the Alliance for Justice's 
>Gun Industry Watch, and supported by the Million Mom March united with the 
>Brady Campaign and the Mid-Atlantic Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
>
>"Let this send a loud message to other corporate partners of the NRA," 
>said Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron.  "If you support the NRA, we 
>will work to make sure that your employees, customers, and all of your 
>stakeholders know that you support an extremist gun lobby that is out of 
>step with mainstream America."
>
>"The termination of this agreement is a tremendous victory for everyone 
>who was outraged that a reputable business like H&R Block would support an 
>extremist organization like the NRA," said Michael D. Barnes, president of 
>the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the Million Mom 
>March. "Marketing your products to a specific group of people is an 
>accepted business practice, but H&R Block crossed the line when it agreed 
>to pay royalties to the NRA."
>
>"Corporations doing business with the NRA should be very concerned by the 
>large efforts of hundreds of gun safety activists that came out in 
>defiance of H&R Block's agreement with the NRA," said Bryan Miller of the 
>Mid-Atlantic Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
>
>H&R Block had entered into an agreement with a marketing company called 
>Memberdrive to market its products and services to NRA members.  However, 
>the agreement also provided for "royalties" paid by H&R Block, through 
>Memberdrive, to the NRA.  According an H&R Block advertisement that ran in 
>the March issue of America's First Freedom, the NRA's magazine, H&R Block 
>"will make a contribution to the NRA for every Member who becomes a new 
>customer."  Memberdrive's Senior Vice President of Marketing is Susan 
>LaPierre, wife of NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre.
>
>Gun Industry Watch, a student network, first exposed the agreement in late 
>February, staging a protest outside of an H&R Block outlet in Washington, 
>DC, and planning dozens more.  Over the past two weeks, thousands of 
>activists including those from the Million Mom March and the Brady 
>Campaign joined with Gun Industry Watch and called, faxed and e-mailed H&R 
>Block to express their objections to this agreement and to educate the 
>company on the extremist positions that the NRA has taken in the 
>past.  With Gun Industry Watch recruiting students, Million Mom March 
>recruiting its members and support from the Mid-Atlantic Coalition to 
>Prevent Gun Violence, protests of H&R Block offices in more than 50 cities 
>had been planned for mid-March.  These protests have now been called off.
>
>"This victory shows the power of the gun control movement's grassroots," 
>said Aron.  "When you engage students and moms together, it's a potent 
>combination."
>
>"H&R Block now understands that, by agreeing to this royalty scheme, it 
>was furthering the reckless political agenda of the NRA's leadership," 
>said Mr. Barnes. "Congratulations to Gun Industry Watch and to all of our 
>Million Mom March activists and members for making their voices heard."
>
>

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