Boycott Liberal Anti-Gun Organization Groupon!

Online discount coupon company Groupon has angered business owners as it abruptly canceled all of its gun-related deals in North America. Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler responded to media with the following statement:

All scheduled and current gun-related deals featured on Groupon North America, including shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry and clay shooting, have been placed on hiatus while we review internal standards.

The Groupon deals had previously been good sources of marketing and revenue for gun business owners who are claiming that the company failed to notify them of the change.

Groupon asserts that it started calling gun business owners the same day it placed the hiatus to alert them of the stance on gun-related deals. They also claimed that the move was not politically motivated and a gun control advocate stated that the change was propelled by angered gun control proponents.

Ladd Everritt, director of communications at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said that “We, along with other groups, had been applying pressure to Groupon for some time now because we were disturbed by the flippant nature of previous gun deals. Even before Newtown,” he added, “Groupon was undoubtedly getting e-mails from users who threatened to discontinue their membership if the site continued to promote those types of deals, and I expect those emails have only accelerated in intensity after the tragedy.”
While some are claiming that gun control needs to be more prevalent, surges in gun sales and concealed carry permits have continued to rise. Although gun business owners are angered at the impact Groupon has had on their business, LivingSocial, the second-largest daily-deal operator behind Groupon, is still allowing gun-related deals through their site. Gun business owners will likely be shifting all of their online coupon business over to LivingSocial, whose gun-related deals are also experiencing even more significant spikes in relation to Groupon’s stance.

Business owners are also claiming that this is not the first time Groupon has see-sawed on pro-gun promotions. Mike Hilton, a shooting range owner in Indianapolis, said Groupon went back and forth several times in deciding whether it would feature a coupon from his range last year. Hilton, like so many other business owners, said he had been pleased with the partnership with Groupon because the online coupons were both great for advertising but also lucrative.

Groupon states that the “change is not a statement against these small businesses” but as resentment builds by business owners it appears that merchant sentiments regard the change as personal.