Thoughts on Peaceful Protest #1

From time to time a business will do something stupid, offensive, stupid AND offensive or just plain wrong - leaving us with CHOICES!

We can just ignore it, blowing the situation off. We can call/write/fax/e-mail and express our dismay, either individually or as a group. Or we can take more direct actions, often with significant economic impact, to show our displeasure.

The thirty some businesses that have publicly declared their intent to discriminate against and harass gun owners lawfully going about their business, in my opinion, merit the application of whatever lawful responses as might discomfit or economically impact them. Bigotry is evil.

The Bigoted Thirty(ish) are mostly on Capitol Hill in Seattle, several are bars where carry is unlawful per se, and while there are certainly gun owners on Capitol Hill - it's not really a bastion of organized and enthused gun owners. Regrettably, both stupidity and bigotry are contagious and need to be deterred whenever possible.

I'm reviewing a variety of options in this series of articles.

Boycotts.

Boycotts only work, if they do at all, if:

1) The business knows they are being boycotted.
2) The business can see (or believes) they are suffering a negative impact.
3) Existing customers and potential customers are diverted away from the business. (see #2)

Still, it can't hurt to send each business on the list a letter detailing that you will not only refrain from doing any sort of business that profits them* so long as they engage in bigotry but that you will do everything lawful in your power to ensure that your friends and everyone you have an opportunity to speak with regarding their business.

I am frankly doubtful of boycotts as an effective tool by themselves, beyond simply sending a wake-up call to the business concerned when they start getting letters, phone calls, faxes, emails, etcetera in substantial volume. The nice feature is that they don't *cost* anything beyond letting the business know that you don't love them.  In conjunction with other efforts, I am heartily approving.

*there are many sorts of business that are NOT profitable to engage in, that actually inflict pain on a business to engage in. See next article.