Press Release                                                 For
Immediate
Release
March 12, 2002
Contacts:       Julie Bernstein
                     Kristin Becker
                     mailto:[email protected]

H&R Block Severs Ties with National Rifle Association

Washington, D.C.-In a stunning defeat for the gun lobby, H&R Block, the
nation's largest tax preparation firm, today severed a controversial
marketing agreement it had entered into with the National Rifle
Association (NRA).  H&R Block's withdrawal from the program came as a
result of widespread protests spearheaded by the Alliance for Justice's
Gun Industry Watch, and supported by the Million Mom March united with
the Brady Campaign and the Mid-Atlantic Coalition to Prevent Gun
Violence.

"Let this send a loud message to other corporate partners of the NRA,"
said Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron.  "If you support the NRA,
we will work to make sure that your employees, customers, and all of
your stakeholders know that you support an extremist gun lobby that is
out of step with mainstream America."

"The termination of this agreement is a tremendous victory for everyone
who was outraged that a reputable business like H&R Block would support
an extremist organization like the NRA," said Michael D. Barnes,
president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence united with the
Million Mom March. "Marketing your products to a specific group of
people is an accepted business practice, but H&R Block crossed the line
when it agreed to pay royalties to the NRA."

"Corporations doing business with the NRA should be very concerned by
the large efforts of hundreds of gun safety activists that came out in
defiance of H&R Block's agreement with the NRA," said Bryan Miller of
the Mid-Atlantic Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.

H&R Block had entered into an agreement with a marketing company called
Memberdrive to market its products and services to NRA members.
However, the agreement also provided for "royalties" paid by H&R Block,
through Memberdrive, to the NRA.  According an H&R Block advertisement
that ran in the March issue of America's First Freedom, the NRA's
magazine, H&R Block "will make a contribution to the NRA for every
Member who becomes a new customer."  Memberdrive's Senior Vice President
of Marketing is Susan LaPierre, wife of NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre.

Gun Industry Watch, a student network, first exposed the agreement in
late February, staging a protest outside of an H&R Block outlet in
Washington, DC, and planning dozens more.  Over the past two weeks,
thousands of activists including those from the Million Mom March and
the Brady Campaign joined with Gun Industry Watch and called, faxed and
e-mailed H&R Block to express their objections to this agreement and to
educate the company on the extremist positions that the NRA has taken in
the past. With Gun Industry Watch recruiting students, Million Mom March
recruiting its members and support from the Mid-Atlantic Coalition to
Prevent Gun Violence, protests of H&R Block offices in more than 50
cities had been planned for mid-March. These protests have now been
called off.

"This victory shows the power of the gun control movement's grassroots,"
said Aron.  "When you engage students and moms together, it's a potent
combination."

"H&R Block now understands that, by areeing to this royalty scheme, it
was furthering the reckless political agenda of the NRA's leadership,"
said Mr. Barnes. "Congratulations to Gun Industry Watch and to all of
our Million Mom March activists and members for making their voices
heard."

Please spread the word!!!
AIRBORNE!!

H & R really stepped in it on this one.  First they pissed off all the whiny liberals, now they have pissed off all the gun people.  This is a first class example of why so many corps try to remain neutral on everything except stuff *everyone* hates, like breast cancer and birth defects.

Potent combination of the most STUPID F**KING morons on the face of this earth. I was going to go to Block this year instead of doing my taxes myself. Now I'll let them know why I won't be... [pissed]

Students and Moms -- Jee-Zus! Two of the biggest reasons this world is as jacked up as it is.