Ed Swedish just wanted to do something good for his community. The gun store owner in New Hudson, Michigan heard about a shortage of blood, and worked with his local Red Cross to set up a blood drive at Huron Valley Guns this upcoming weekend.

“We actually made plans to move all of our showroom to the back and this was all going to be set up as an area for the blood drive and where you sit after you have the blood,” Swedish said.

He even printed flyers for the event for this Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sunday, Sept. 1. Swedish told all his customers to come by and help out.

But after the Red Cross backed out, it will be business as usual at Huron Valley Guns this weekend. The organization apparently didn’t like the idea of hosting the blood drive inside the business, and eventually decided not to hold the event with a mobile blood bank in the parking lot either.

“For us to jump through all the hoops and then, first it’s no good in the store then it’s not even good in our parking lot I mean,” Swedish said. “I wouldn’t go as far as saying second class citizen but it is a little discriminatory.”

Since the local Red Cross isn’t talking, it’s hard to know its side of the story, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it boiled down to “optics”. Would the local woke scolds go after the Red Cross for daring to work with a gun store owner? Would they accuse the Red Cross of hypocrisy for collecting blood at an establishment that sells guns? Probably. It’s easier for the organization to try to avoid controversy than it for them to say “Hey, we’re glad Ed Swedish wants to help, and we don’t care that he owns a gun shop”.

Ed Swedish sounds more disappointed than angry about the decision by the local Red Cross.

“I really feel bad for all of my customers that donated their time to come and make plans to be here this weekend,” he said.

I feel bad for the folks who need blood but may run into difficulties because of the current shortage. I also can’t help but wonder how severe that blood shortage is in the area. You’d think if it was really a crisis, the local Red Cross would tell the scolds to pound sand and hold the event anyway. Why decide to cancel a blood drive when you have a shortage? I’d hate to think the local Red Cross would really put being woke over saving lives.

This incident is also another example of how gun ownership and gun owners are being de-normalized by the anti-gun movement. Unfortunately, they’re doing a decent job, even in traditionally pro-gun parts of the country, at making corporate America and non-profits scared of working with gun owners. As long as the fear of being controversial is stronger than their desire to do some good or to serve their customers, the anti-gun groups don’t even have to apply direct pressure to companies and organizations in order to get their way. The Red Cross in Michigan may be dealing with a blood shortage, but we’re seeing a real spine shortage across the country as well.