NASCAR has rejected multiple ads for firearms, gun store and manufacturer Dark Storm Industries and online retailer K-Var Corp. told the Washington Free Beacon on Friday.
Both companies said that NASCAR rejected ads for guns that they submitted after being contacted by the racing organization to advertise in their publications.
"NASCAR decided to turn their back on their customer base, joining the likes of Yeti, Dick's and Under Armour," Dark Storm wrote in a post on Instagram. "We were approached by a NASCAR publication eager to earn our business, but after submitting our ad it was immediately rejected, stating that we cannot depict ‘assault weapons.'"
"We just heard back from NASCAR on a number of gun related ads and unfortunately due to a gradual shift in their position on guns, these ads must be edited/changed– especially those that are depicted as assault style rifles/sniper rifles," Sunny Berlin, art director for National Event Publications, which books ads for NASCAR publications, told K-Var general manager Dave Dolbee in an email.
"They are still open to some ads featuring some of the less controversial gun accessories, concealed carry, or classes. Can you supply a new ad that would fit more along these guidelines? NASCAR will then review again."
"Naturally we took the position ‘absolutely not,'" Dolbee told the Free Beacon. "You can't do ‘this gun's good, that gun's bad.' You know? I said we wouldn't deal with them at all if that was going to be the case. We could never go forward with that type of a policy."
National Event Publications and NASCAR did not respond to the Free Beacon’s requests for comment.
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