Florida students take on NRA

Survivors call for boycott of state and firms with ties to gun group

FLORIDA: Survivors of a mass shooting at a Florida high school are hoping to expand the reach of their gun control movement by seeking a boycott of companies doing business with the NRA and urging tourists to boycott the Sunshine State.

As the #BoycottNRA movement grew on Twitter, with petitions circulating against companies that offer discounts to NRA members, a growing number of those businesses announced they are cutting or reducing ties with the association.

Both Delta and United said on Saturday that they will no longer offer discounted airfares 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.

Rental car company Hertz said it would no longer offer a discount programme to NRA members, while the First National Bank of Omaha, one of the nation’s largest privately held banks, said it will not renew a co-branded Visa credit card it has with the NRA.

In an e-mail on Saturday, 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,” the NRA statement said.

The State of Florida also was facing some backlash.

One of the survivors of the Florida school shooting suggested that tourists stay away from the state. He got an immediate response.

“Let’s make a deal,” tweeted David Hogg, a Stoneman Douglas student who has been a major player in the #neveragain movement.

“DO NOT come to Florida for spring break unless gun legislation is passed.” Wendy Glaab, 60, of Fonthill, Ontario, Canada, was among the first to respond.

“I like many Canadians travel to Florida from time to time to escape our winter. I can’t speak for others but I will not be returning until meaningful gun control legislation is in place,” she said.

Members of the NRA have access to special offers from partner companies on its website, ranging from life insurance to wine clubs. But the insurance company MetLife Inc discontinued its discount programme with the NRA on Friday. Symantec Corp, the software company that makes Norton Antivirus technology, did the same.