by Sam Cohen
September 13, 2001

So after pulling guns and ammo off the shelves for a day "for the safety of [its] customers and employees," Kmart has decided to put them back. As was the case with Citibank last year and Bank of America a few months ago, many will say, "OK, they've retreated, they've seen the light, we taught them a lesson. Let's reward them for their good behavior, and show our forgiveness."

Now, maybe eight years under Clinton have conditioned the country to forgive outrages after denials, apologies, or reversals -- "it's time to move on" -- but not me. These people don't learn. They're not sorry. And it doesn't matter whether their actions stemmed from a (mis-)calculated business decision, outright anti-gun organization affiliation of their management, or plain ignorance and stupidity on the part of the decision-makers. IT DOESN'T MATTER, because not just this one company, but the entire corporate and political world needs a reminder that gun owners COUNT, and this is an opportunity to give it to them -- with a boycott that NEVER LETS UP.

In the 1700s, the French novelist Voltaire had his fictional tongue-in-cheek-naive character Candide witness a real-life event in which the British publicly executed an admiral for cowardice. Candide's comment, actually classic sarcasm by Voltaire, was that the British execute their admirals from time to time, "pour encourager les autres" -- literally, "to encourage the others."

Spread the word, tell your friends, send email, make signs: KMART DISCRIMINATES AGAINST WOMEN, THE ELDERLY, AND THE HANDICAPPED. How? Because it discriminates against gun owners, and would therefore make us all into a country of disarmed victims, harming the weakest the most.

Remember, it's not just about Kmart. It's pour encourager les autres.

Sam Cohen is member number 007 of KABA's Board of Advisors, and a director of Gun Owners of New Hampshire. He'd like to be known for adding the exclamation point to "RKBA!" (the exclamation point meaning "shall not be infringed!"). His Web page is http://www.TheSpiritOf76.com/rkba.html.