PA Bill Number: HB829
Title: In preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Description: An Act amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Last Action: Signed in House
Last Action Date: Jul 3, 2024
Western Pennsylvania sheriff challenges NRA boycotters :: 04/18/2018
BUTLER, Pa. — A Western Pennsylvania sheriff has banned his department from conducting county sheriff business with any of the corporations that have cut ties with members of the National Rifle Association.
Mike Slupe, the chief law enforcement officer in Butler County, released the order April 3, but it hasn't been reported until now.
"Though I cannot dictate which companies you utilize in your personal life, I can and am going to dictate which companies the Butler County Sheriff’s Office will not use," Slupe wrote. He said the companies won't be used "when making arrangements for any extradition or stay over that you are scheduling."
The companies are Delta and United for airlines; hotels are any from the Wyndham Group; and vehicle rental companies Enterprise Holdings, Avis and Hertz.
"These companies made the choice to boycott the NRA for whatever their reason(s) are, so, I am making the choice not to support them," Slupe wrote. "I believe it is important to send a message as a department that we support the members of our community that are members of the NRA that have had nothing to do with any of the shootings, yet they are the face of the blame in the eyes of corporate America," Slupe said of the corporate response following the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February.
“While I cannot tell people what to [do] in their personal choices outside of the county sheriff department, I can direct this department to not use the services of these corporations who made the choice to punish NRA members,” he said.
Slupe was first elected into office in 2009. The first Republican to hold the seat in nearly three decades, Slupe won the first election by 69 percent of the vote over his Democratic opponent. He won again in 2013 and last November, both times receiving over 98 percent of the vote.
To date, Slupe has received no complaints from his constituents or his deputies.
“I don't believe the NRA is responsible for any of these tragedies that have occurred, as a matter of fact, the NRA is more about education and safety than any group out there. So when these companies decided to boycott the NRA, for whatever their reasons, I have a problem with that,” he told the Washington Examiner.
Slupe did put an asterisk in his order that if the hotels, such as the Days Inn in Butler, are independently owned, they will not be part of the boycott.
“I know the owner. He's an independent. He's a businessman. I won't have a problem with having my people go to an independently owned hotel in one of these groups. But if it's not, they ain’t using 'em,” he said.
After the school shooting in Parkland, student survivors responded with a call for a political movement and boycotts. This resulted in rallies across the country one month later and several sports retailers introducing restrictions on gun sales at their stores, and other companies such as Delta Airlines, Hertz and the Wyndam Hotel chain announcing they were cutting affinity programs to NRA members.
The corporate and political movement has escalated against NRA members. This month, the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a statement:
“They can have a mortgage market that includes America’s teachers, or they can continue to do business with the NRA and gun manufacturers. They can’t do both. ... We’re issuing Wells Fargo an ultimatum.”
Bank of America will stop lending to manufacturers of “military-style firearms” that are sold for civilian use, a bank official revealed this week.
Anne Finucane, a vice chairman at Bank of America, announced last week on Bloomberg Television that after internal discussions with their gun manufacturing clients they will no longer finance their operations.
And Los Angeles California City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell introduced a proposal in late March that asked city staffers to arrange for a list of businesses in the city that have a formal relationship with the NRA and then discuss ways to boycott doing business with them.
That edict included FedEx, who is working with the city’s harbor department to operate a warehouse and office space.
To date, FedEx has not stopped providing discounted shipping for members of the NRA.
Slupe says he understands his effort is tiny in scope compared to those of big corporations, unions, and large city administrations.
“We all make choices. Their decision was to cut their ties with the NRA for one reason or another. And I'm not bad-mouthing them. They made a choice. So I'm gonna make a choice. And we're not gonna use these companies to do our work,” he said.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/western-pennsylvania-sheriff-challenges-nra-boycotters
