'Incredibly disrespectful': Canadians disgusted by firearm coalition's 'POLY' promo, in shadow of L'École Polytechnique anniversary
Today is National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. It also marks the anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre (Montreal massacre) in 1989, a femicide, in which an armed student murdered fourteen women for "fighting against feminism."
Days before the Montreal massacre anniversary, the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights' (CCFR) ran an online promotion offering 10% off their merchandise for customers who used "POLY" as a promo code.
Canadians took to Twitter and called the promotion "disgusting."
This is so disgusting. Read the below 🧵The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights’ has a promotional code “Poly” to promote the purchase of merchandise on its website. This is not what we need leading up the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Men’s Vioence Against Women. https://t.co/NS1v0HK3Yb
— Farrah Khan (@farrahsafiakhan) December 4, 2022
🧵 The Canadian Coalition for “Firearm Rights” are wolves in sheeps’ clothing, and we should never forget it. For all their current blather about muzzle velocities, magazine capacities, hunting something, something something, the practical reality is that they actually stand for:
— David Hamer 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇨🇦 (@DavidHamer_1951) December 4, 2022
▪️Concealed carry in cities, open in country
▪️Broad rights of self defence by gun
▪️Decriminalization of gun possession without a licence
▪️Background checks restricted to 5 years
Don’t believe me?
Here’s their official policy documents on each of the foregoing 👇🏻— David Hamer 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇨🇦 (@DavidHamer_1951) December 4, 2022
The Polytechnique mass shooting took the lives of 14 women.
To exploit this tragedy, on the eve of its anniversary, is reprehensible and disgusting.
We stand with @Polysesouvient and victims and survivors of gun violence and call on the #CCFR to apologize immediately. https://t.co/cOz5u3MIsb— Marco Mendicino (@marcomendicino) December 3, 2022
Polytechnique Montréal addressed the CCFR's recent promotion code and called it a tasteless provocation and insulting to those affected.
Polytechnique Montréal denounces the use of an inappropriate promotional code - On the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the feminicide of December 6, 1989, Polytechnique Montréal was greatly dismayed and deeply saddened to learn of the Canadian Coalition... (1/3)
— Polytechnique Mtl (@polymtl) December 3, 2022
…for Firearm Rights’ initiative to use the promotional code “Poly” to promote the purchase of merchandise on its website. (2/3)
— Polytechnique Mtl (@polymtl) December 3, 2022
We see this exploitation of a tragic event not only as a very tasteless provocation, but above all as an insult to the memory of the victims, as well as those injured, their families and the entire Polytechnique community. (3/3)
— Polytechnique Mtl (@polymtl) December 3, 2022
The CCFR denies exploiting the anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre.
"The code "Poly" does not refer to the mass shooting, it refers to the Twitter account, @PolySeSouvient, and they all know that. The discount code is in response to the group "Poly" and their constant demonizing of only licensed gun owners, and their non-stop implications that we are some kind of fraudulent organization. Their Twitter feed is available for anyone to view," Rod M. Giltaca, CEO & Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights' wrote to Yahoo Canada.
"We responded with a discount code, this was on Nov 20, not the "eve of the anniversary of the tragedy". They sat on the tweet for almost 2 weeks, then rolled it out as in their claim, knowing that no one would look at the tweet and see the date. The truth is, we didn't do what they've claimed. What we did was cheeky toward them, it was. But it was nowhere in the same universe as what they have represented."
Polytechnique shooting survivor and spokeswoman for gun-control group PolySeSouvient, Nathalie Provost, told the media that it is "incredibly disrespectful" for the gun rights coalition to invoke the group's name in a merchandise sale discount code. She said the promotion's timing was not surprising, as they had dismissed the event and the anniversary before.
