NRA Declares War on ConocoPhillips

A Web site statement said the National Rifle Association would “spare no effort or expense” in its advertising and boycott campaign against ConocoPhillips and urged Conoco and Phillips 66 petroleum retailers to pressure the company to withdraw from the Oklahoma lawsuit.

ConocoPhillips became a plaintiff in the legal effort mounted to block a new Oklahoma state law preventing the firing of workers, except for convicted felons, with guns in their vehicles – a law originally prompted when Weyerhauser sacked a group of employees who had stored firearms in their vehicles parked in a company parking lot (See Sooner State Firms Battle Gun Law ).

“Across the country, we’re going to make ConocoPhillips the example of what happens when a corporation takes away your Second Amendment rights,” vowed NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, according to the Web statement. “If you are a corporation that’s anti-gun, anti-gun owner, or anti-Second Amendment, we will spare no effort or expense to work against you, to protect the rights of your law-abiding employees. Their rights are worth more than your money”

LaPierre said the NRA Civil Defense Fund is representing the fired Weyerhauser workers.

ConocoPhillips apparently isn’t backing off its position. “Our primary concern is the safety of all our employees,” the company said in a statement. “We are simply trying to provide a safe and secure working environment … by keeping guns out of our facilities, including our company parking lots.”