Cope Reynolds, owner of Southwest Shooting Authority in Pinetop, AZ, will not sell guns to any customer who voted for President Barack Obama.
Mr. Reynolds has placed an ad in the local paper and put a sign on the front door. “If you voted for Barack Obama your business is not welcome at Southwest Shooting Authority,” it reads. You have proven you are not responsible enough to own a Firearm.”
Reynolds also posted a letter at a website called Ammoland:
I thought you all might be interested in this. We will try to demonstrate once again that the bottom line for our business is principle, not money. Yes, it has been damaging at times but our values are intact. Effective immediately, if you voted for Obama, your money is no good here. You have proven beyond a doubt that you are not responsible enough to own a firearm. We have just put a sign up on the front door to save you the trouble of walking all the way in here.
Mr. Reynolds opened his family-run business in 2004. He reports his family has received large amounts of support and heated scorn, including two death threats.
While anticipation of stricter gun control may be a contributing factor to the letter, the gun shop will be affected by President Obama’s other policies and regulations just like any other small business.
In order to comply with Obamacare, Papa John’s owner John Schnatter said he will have to raise the prices on pizzas 11 to 14 cents and cut back on hours. A Denny’s franchise owner said he would have to cut back hours and joked about passing an Obamacare tax on to his customers.
Reynolds said he doesn’t care what happens to his business in the end.
“If we lose the whole business it doesn’t matter,” he declared. “The bottom line is — my values.”