Campaign to Unload was a gun control advocacy coalition of over 50 left-of-center organizations focused on changing gun law policies and encouraging organizations and individuals to divest of all investments in gunmakers. ¹

Campaign to Unload appears to be no longer active. Its last publicly reviewable tax return was dated 2014. Articles and references to Campaign to Unload are dated between 2013 and 2015. Its one-time website, campaign2unload.org, no longer exists. However, as of February 2023 Campaign to Unload is listed as a member of the left-leaning “anti-oppression” coalition Declaration for American Democracy. ²

Background

In 2013 Jennifer Fiore began Campaign to Unload by lobbying Congress for background checks for gun purchasers then expanded the organization’s focus to impacting the financials of gunmakers by persuading people and organizations to remove them from their investment portfolios. ³

Partnerships

Campaign to Unload formed a coalition with more than fifty organizations focused on changing gun law policies and encouraging divestment of gunmakers from all investments. ⁴ Coalition members included CREDO, MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, and Every Child Matters Education Fund. ⁵

Campaign to Unload is a member of the left-leaning “anti-oppression” coalition Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD). The DFAD coalition is made up of over 250 left-leaning activist groups including United to Protect Democracy, Government Accountability Project, , Rock the Vote, Common Cause, Progressive Democrats of America, Center for American Progress, and People for the American Way. ⁶ The Campaign Committee which directs the DFAD includes leaders from left-wing organizations William J. Brennan Center for Justice, Black Voters Matter Fund, Democracy 21, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). ⁷

Programs

Campaign to Unload conducted a campaign to persuade the University of California and California State Teachers Retirement System to divest holdings in gun manufacturers. ⁸

In partnership with Generation Progress, Campaign to Unload developed the “ Divestment Toolkit: Your Guide to Organizing on Campus” to train student activists to work with their colleges and universities to refuse endowments from and divest any investments in gun manufacturers. ⁹

Campaign to Unload conducted several campaigns to educate and persuade investors to divest holdings in gun manufacturers. One example is the petition Campaign to Unload organized and published on the progressive site MoveOn.org to Bank of America to stop dealings with gun manufacturer Freedom Group. ¹⁰

“Unload Your 401k” was a campaign developed by Campaign to Unload and States United to Prevent Gun Violence. ¹¹ The campaign included a video with Snoop Dogg and other celebrities asking individuals to divest their holdings in gun manufacturers from their 401(k) retirement plans. ¹² Individuals could check their personal retirement accounts for gun companies through the campaign’s website and make efforts to divest them. ¹³

Campaign to Unload further supported gun control policies including expanded background checks for gun purchasers and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines. ¹⁴

Financials

Campaign to Unload’s 2014 tax return reported revenue of $34,055 and expenses of $13,263. ¹⁵ It has not filed a publicly reviewable tax return since 2014.

Leadership

Jennifer Fiore was co-founder and executive director from October 2013 to September 2015. ¹⁶ Following that, Fiore had a senior position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the Obama administration, was a senior advisor on Julian Castro’s presidential campaign, and more recently is a senior vice president at the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign. ¹⁷

Leah Gunn Barrett was director and secretary per the 2014 tax return. ¹⁸ Barrett was also executive director for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) from 2013 to 2016. ¹⁹ NYAGV is a left-of-center activist group that lobbies for gun control in New York state. ²⁰

Michelle Ringuette was director and treasurer per the 2014 tax return. ²¹ Ringuette is assistant to the president for labor, government relations, and political affairs at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). She has held board positions at several progressive organizations including  For Our Future (PAC),  Gunsdown.org, Working America, State Innovation Exchange (SIX), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). ²²

1. Gila Lyons. “You’re Probably Spending Money on the Gun Industry. This Woman Wants to Help You Stop.” GOOD. September 11, 2015. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.good.is/articles/local-globalist-jenn-fiore-campaign2unload
2. “Our Team.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed January 25, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/team/
3. Gila Lyons. “You’re Probably Spending Money on the Gun Industry. This Woman Wants to Help You Stop.” GOOD. September 11, 2015. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://www.good.is/articles/local-globalist-jenn-fiore-campaign2unload
4. Gila Lyons. “You’re Probably Spending Money on the Gun Industry. This Woman Wants to Help You Stop.” GOOD. September 11, 2015. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://www.good.is/articles/local-globalist-jenn-fiore-campaign2unload
5. “Join the Coalition That Struggles Against the Gun Holdings.” UnloadtheGuns.com – Why Divestment? Accessed January 31, 2023. https://unloadtheguns.com/why-divestment/
6. “Our Members.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed January 25, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/
7. “Our Team.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed January 25, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/team/
8. Campaign to Unload. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990-EZ – Part III. 2014.
9. “Divestment Toolkit: Your Guide to Organizing on Campus.” Generation Progress.  Accessed February 1, 2023. https://cdn.genprogress.org/content/uploads/2013/05/Divestment-Toolkit-1.pdf
10. “Bank of America: It’s Un-American to Profit from Gun Violence.” MoveOn – petitions. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/bank-of-america-its-un
11. “Unload Your 401k.” Action Network – Groups. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://actionnetwork.org/groups/unload-your-401k
12. Michele Richinick. “Snoop Dogg asks fans to ‘unload’ from guns.” MSNBC. March 16, 2015. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/snoop-dogg-asks-fans-unload-guns-msna551636
13. Renee Loth. “Don’t Like Gun Violence? Stop Funding it.” Boston Globe. July 19, 2014. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/07/18/don-like-gun-violence-stop-funding/YkRrIJMMydQWTLhuYl2tGM/story.html
14. Kevin Short. “You’re Probably Investing in Gun Companies and Don’t Know it.” Huffington Post. May 2, 2014. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unload-your-401k_n_5242606
15. Campaign to Unload. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990-EZ – Part I). 2014.
16. LinkedIn – Jennifer Fiore. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennfiore/
17. Elizabeth Bibi. HRC Welcomes Jennifer Fiore as New Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing.” Human Rights Campaign – News. May 7, 2020. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://www.hrc.org/news/hrc-welcomes-jennifer-fiore-as-new-senior-vice-president-of-communications
18. Campaign to Unload. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990-EZ – Part IV. 2014.
19. LinkedIn – Leah Gunn Barrett. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-gunn-barrett-ab682a16/
20. NYAGV website. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://nyagv.org/home/
21. Campaign to Unload. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990-EZ – Part IV. 2014.
22. LinkedIn – Michelle Ringuette. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mringuette/