NRA in crosshairs

Companies cut ties with gun lobby as shooting fallout grows

THE National Rifle Association, and now the state of Florida, face a growing backlash as companies cut ties to the gun industry following the latest school massacre.

Student survivors also are calling for tourism boycotts of their home state until gun control measures are enacted.

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

Delta and United said at the weekend that they would no longer offer discounted fares to NRA members to attend their annual meetings, and both have asked the gun rights group to remove any references to their companies from the NRA website.

A growing number of large companies have announced they are cutting or reducing ties with the association. Rental car company Hertz will no longer offer a discount program to NRA members and First National Bank of Omaha – one of the nation’s largest privately held banks – said that it would not renew a co-branded Visa credit card it has with the NRA.

Most of these companies participate in promotional tieins and do not receive money directly from the NRA. The moves have come as petitions circulated online targeting companies offering discounts to NRA members.

The NRA called the companies’ actions “a shameful display of political and civic cowardice” and said the loss of corporate discounts and other perks “will neither scare nor distract” NRA members.

“In time, these brands will be replaced by others who recognise that patriotism and determined commitment to Constitutional freedoms are characteristics of a marketplace they very much want to serve,” a NRA statement said.

The state of Florida also was facing some backlash.

One of the shooting survivors suggested yesterday on Twitter that tourists stay away from the state.