Moms Demand Action To Host 'Stroller Jam' Outside Of Target Corp. Annual Shareholder Meeting In Dallas On Wednesday

INDIANAPOLIS, June 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America today announced that it will host a "Stroller Jam," a gathering of moms and children with their strollers, outside of Target Corp.'s annual shareholder meeting in Dallas on Wednesday to continue its call on Target Corp. to prohibit the open carry of guns in Target stores. More than 160,000 people have signed on to ask Target Corp. CEO John Mulligan to prohibit the open carry of guns in less than a week and Moms chapters in a number of states will also begin delivering petitions to Target stores this week.  The petition to Target follows demonstrations by a gun extremist group that brought loaded semi-automatic weapons into the aisles of Target stores in a number of states (photos here) – and comes on the heels of a real gun being found in the toy aisle of a Target in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and a previous event in which a Target employee accidentally shot himself with a gun dropped by a customer.

"Assault rifles and guns don't belong in the baby aisle, they don't belong in the toy aisle – and they don't belong in any aisle of the stores that American moms frequent like Target," said Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.  "We will continue our call on Target to stand with moms and support the safety and security of our children when we shop in their stores.  We support the Second Amendment but people walking through the aisles flaunting their loaded weapons is unacceptable and it's time for Target, a store that American moms flock to, to follow the lead of Chipotle and Starbucks and prohibit the open carry of firearms."

EVENT DETAILS

What:               Moms Demand Action 'Stroller Jam' outside of Target Corp. Shareholder Meeting
When:              1:30 PM CST, Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Where:             Union Station, 400 South Houston Street, Dallas, Texas 75202

What:               Virginia Moms Deliver Petitions to Local Target Store
When:              10:30 AM EST, Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Where:             Potomac Yard Target, 3101 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Alexandria, VA 22305-3042

What:               California Moms Deliver Petitions to Local Target Store
When:              10:00 AM PST, Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Where:             6600 Topanga Canyon Boulevard , Canoga Park, CA 91303

What:               North Carolina Moms Deliver Petitions to Local Target Store
When:              9:30 AM EST Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Where:             1040 Hanes Mall Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27103

What:               Minnesota Moms Deliver Petitions to Local Target Store
When:              11:00 CST AM Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Where:             900 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403

(More Events In Development) 

Gun extremists have been demonstrating at Target stores to promote their agenda of intimidation in Texas, Alabama, Ohio, North Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Despite ongoing demonstrations, Target has still not instituted policies prohibiting open carry.  Yet according to Target, mothers and women are an important part of the company's customer base – 80 to 90 percent of Target's customers are female and 38 percent of guests have children, a share the company says is higher than other discount stores.

In states where no background checks or training are required to buy semi-automatic rifles and carry them openly in public, businesses have a duty to protect their employees and patrons.  Texas law – and the laws in a majority of states – allows people to openly carry loaded rifles in public with absolutely no training, permitting, or minimum age requirement. Combined with estimates that 40 percent of gun sales occur without a background check in the U.S., this means that people in most states can legally carry loaded rifles in public without ever having passed a criminal background check. 

Gun extremists have held similar demonstrations at other locations and Moms petitions have led a number of companies to take swift action to stand with Moms and enforce or adopt policies that prohibit open carry to protect the safety of their employees and customers.  Recently Sonic and Brinker International, which includes Chili's Grill & Bar, prohibited the open carry of guns in their restaurants. Chipotle also quickly responded to a Moms' petition by asking customers to leave their guns at home, "because the display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers."  Last month Jack in the Box responded to the Moms' petition by announcing that it would enforce a prohibition of guns in its stores, stating that, "the presence of guns inside a restaurant could create an uncomfortable situation for our guests and employees and lead to unintended consequences."

Moms Demand Action previously launched petitions that garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures asking Starbucks, Facebook, and Instagram to reform the companies' gun policies to make customers and communities safer.  Starbucks announced that guns are no longer welcome in its stores as a result of the campaign.  Facebook and Instagram also announced changes to block illegal gun sales after 230,000 Americans signed a Moms Demand Action petition asking for stronger protections against illegal gun sales on the two social media platforms.  

About Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Much like Mothers Against Drunk Driving was created to change laws regarding drunk driving, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was created to build support for common-sense gun reforms. The nonpartisan grassroots movement of American mothers is demanding new and stronger solutions to lax gun laws and loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our children and families. Since its inception after the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting, Moms Demand Action has established a chapter in every state of the country and is part of Everytown for Gun Safety along with Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Everytown is the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with more than 1.8 million supporters including moms, mayors, survivors, and everyday Americans who are fighting for reforms that respect the Second Amendment and protect people. For more information or to get involved visit www.momsdemandaction.org. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MomsDemandAction or on Twitter at @MomsDemand

Contact
Erika Soto Lamb: [email protected] or 646.580.5281
Stacey Radnor: [email protected] or 202-870-6668

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140508/85895

SOURCE Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

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