Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 16:46:21 -0400
From: "Ken L. Holder" <[k--l--r] at [shell.liberty.com]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[n--b--n] at [mainstream.net]>
Subject: Blockbuster backs down

Blockbuster drops gun ban but says didn't 'capitulate' to gun lobby

MIAMI -- Blockbuster Video stores have dropped a ban on
concealed weapons, saying the rule was unenforceable.

The change of heart in the 5-month-old policy was not connected to
complaints from customers or threats of a boycott from the
nation's largest gun lobby, company spokesman Wally Knief said
Wednesday.

Fort Lauderdale-based Blockbuster instituted the ban, which
included even legally concealed weapons, and posted signs telling
gun-toters to stay out as part of its store safety program.

Knief could not cite specific problems and said he wasn't aware of
any instances where customers had been caught in stores with
concealed weapons. But anyone caught with a gun would have been
asked to leave, he said.

The National Rifle Association sent out an alert on its Internet
e-mail network asking its membership and other gun owners for
information on companies banning legally carried guns from its
stores.

"Our members, I'm sure, have been writing and calling Blockbuster,"
said NRA spokesman Tom Wylde, who praised the company for its
decision.

While the alert conceded such bans were legal, it also suggested
that these businesses -- specifically Blockbuster -- might be
subject to a boycott by the 2.8 million NRA members.

But Knief denied Blockbuster "capitulated" to threats from the gun
lobby.

"We discovered that it wasn't enforceable, which is why we
rescinded it," he said. "It was extremely difficult to manage on a
store level."

Copyright 1996 Nando.net

***From the NandO Times on the WWW at http://www2.nando.net/nt/nando.cgi