Guns have now joined mentions of Christianity as taboo in modern media.
Ray Reynolds, the proprietor of United Loan and Firearm in Augusta and a federally licensed gun merchant, said he was notified last week by Comcast Spotlight officials that his shop’s latest ad, a parody of the History Channel’s hit reality program Pawn Stars, was not in compliance with the company’s new ban.
“The federal government is issuing us a license and says it’s OK for us to sell guns,” he told the local news daily, the Augusta Chronicle. “That’s out-and-out censorship for Comcast to decide. That’s them pushing their political agenda.”
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, was purchased by NBCUniversal last month, at which time it assumed the parent company’s advertising practices. A spokesman said the company would not accept any new advertising for firearms or other weapons.
“Consistent with long standing NBC policies, Comcast Spotlight has decided it will not accept new advertising for firearms or weapons moving forward,” Comcast spokesman Chris Ellis said. “This policy aligns us with the guidelines in place at many media organizations.”
Comcast told him that he could still run his ad, provided he modified it to remove any depictions of firearms, and removed any reference to guns from the company name in the ad. The store’s name is United Loan and Firearm, so Comcast wanted “and Firearm” lopped off.
Comcast is part of the NBCUniversal empire.
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