NRA Corporate Partners Are Feeling the Heat as Boycott Calls Increase

The speed with which the companies have abandoned the NRA is also a testament to how abruptly the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has disrupted USA gun culture.

The latest companies to end their ties with the NRA were Delta and United Airlines, two of the three largest US -based airlines.

The campaign comes as U.S. businesses increasingly find themselves entangled in political debates, as activists target them on issues such as LGBTQ rights, as well as ties to the president.

Other companies distanced themselves from the NRA on Friday.

The growing exodus of corporate names, ranging from a major insurer to auto rental brands and a household moving company, comes after the NRA launched a counter-offensive against a student-led campaign for tighter USA gun ownership laws. Delta Airlines, on the other hand, said the contract with NRA was “routine”. And SimpliSafe, which sells home security systems, said the same.

Delta Air Lines announced Saturday morning that it’s ending discounted rates for NRA members.

Also on Thursday, the First National Bank of Omaha pledged to stop issuing an NRA-branded Visa card. “All three of our brands have ended the discount for NRA members”, effective March 26, the auto rental company wrote on Twitter Thursday afternoon.

Two hotel chains are also clarifying that they’re not involved with the NRA – though the reasons for this are less clear than they were with First National Bank.

Symantec Corp said it ended a program with the NRA offering discounts for its LifeLock identity theft product. “If other companies continue to (cut ties) it can start to have an adverse public relations effect”, Spitzer said.

A marketing professor, Scott Galloway, told NBC News that in dropping ties to the NRA, companies were calculating what would be in the best interests of their business. “These associations greatly benefit our customers by buying discounted rooms from groups that might otherwise be charged a penalty by hotels for not using all of the rooms in their block”. Many of those tweeting are in the entertainment industry. The group devotes massive resources to fighting gun regulations in the name of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms.

The NRA is one of the country’s most powerful lobbying groups for gun rights and claims 5 million members.

The move to cut ties with the NRA could carry huge risks for the Nebraska bank, according to one expert.

Reacting to Caraway’s comment, NRA representative Andrew Arunlanandam said, “No politician anywhere can tell the NRA not to come to their city”.

On Friday, President Donald Trump reiterated to CPAC for the third time this week the need to arm teachers with concealed weapons to prevent more shootings in USA schools. Even gun owners support bans on assault rifles.

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TV celebrity Kylie Jenner recently showed what damage a social media post could do to an organization-after her tweet disparaging Snapchat, Snap’s shares dropped almost 8 percent. Sturm Ruger was down 4.6 per cent. Vista Outdoor fell nearly 9 per cent.