Also, here is the text of an e-mail I just sent to REI. I will be snail-mailing something similar this week. Remember, we're in an echo chamber here, with like-minded enthusiasts. We need to actually contact those who oppose our views to remind them that we're important:
"Hello,
My name is Kevin XXXX, and my member Co-op # is XXX (you're welcome to look up my purchase history if you'd like).
I'm writing to you to explain why I'll no longer be shopping at REI stores, and why I'll be requesting my dividend as a cash payment for the first time this year.
First, I'm a very active person, and the kind of guy who frequents your stores regularly: I ski, hike, backpack, camp, mountain bike, climb, fly airplanes, hunt, fish, and work as a full-time career law enforcement officer. I have always loved REI stores, and enjoyed the gear you sell that lets me enjoy the activities I just described. However, I’m extremely disappointed by REI's decision to jump into a political debate about guns, rather than remaining neutral on this topic. Your decision is particularly troubling to me, since you’re a retailer that doesn't sell guns. I didn’t expect REI to take a stance either way on this issue, and you’ve now taken a stance that I vehemently disagree with.
Honestly, I don't go to REI to think about politics, I go to REI to think about the outdoors. I don’t spend money at REI so that you can use the influence of my dollars to push an agenda I don’t agree with. In today's world there are dozens of other retailers who sell the same equipment that you do, and I'm not going to spend my hard-earned money in REI stores when you're taking a very public and very pointless political stand on something that I don't agree with (and in doing so also eliminating products I like).
Though I'm sure my e-mail will fall on deaf ears, I just thought you should know that some of your members believe in our 2nd Amendment rights, and don't appreciate the stores we frequent jumping boldly and unnecessarily into this debate.
I don't say this as a "gun nut", either. I say this as a career police officer, a POST certified firearms instructor, a competitive shooter, a person who is very active in my community, and as an American citizen. Fortunately, Backcountry.com, Moosejaw.com, and my two other local mountaineering stores have wisely avoided jumping into a political debate that shouldn’t concern their corporate interests.
If you guys ever change your mind, I'll be back! In the mean time, I just wanted you to know why I’m gone.
Respectfully,
Kevin XXXX "