Microsoft Ad Center does not allow advertising that promotes firearms:
Advertising that promotes firearms or weapons of any kind is not allowed.
Neither does yahoo:
We will not show results on pages that contain problematic content, including but not limited to:
….
Weaponry, ammunition, fireworks or explosives
Nor does google:
Sales or promotion of weapons or ammunition (e.g., firearms, fighting knives, stun guns)
Google’s restriction is only restricted to sales but this has not stopped them from banning gun bloggers.
Unfortunately gun bloggers are out of luck with Microsoft, Yahoo and Google: the mainstream advertising network.
I was not aware that Microsoft employees had their own gun club until SayUncle pointed it out in a comment on his blog!
Apparently they are quite active. In 2000 they donated at least $100,000 to the NRA. Microsoft matched the employee contribution.
From The NRA Foundation:
The Microsoft Gun Club Endowment in 2000 through individual contributions from members of the Microsoft Gun Club. This endowment was established to support training programs for young shooters. Club members’ gifts to this endowment are matched dollar for dollar by the Microsoft Corporation.
The founder and Chairman (soon to be ex-Chairman) Bill Gates is apparently anti-gun and pro gun control!
From ‘Is Bill Gates a closet liberal?‘ :
In 1997, Bill Gates contributed $35,000 in support of a Washington state ballot initiative supporting gun control.
It should be noted that it is Microsoft policy to match donations made by employees to charities. From Microsoft.com:
Charitable donations are matched by Microsoft, up to $12,000 per year.
A club member wearing the club t-shirt:
Hi, welcome to my blog! This blog is dedicated to all things firearms related. I hope you enjoy it.