US gun rights body, Florida state face backlash

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Rifle Association (NRA), the United States group advocating gun rights, and now the State of Florida, faced a growing backlash last Saturday as companies cut ties to the gun industry following the latest school massacre, and student survivors called for tourism boycotts of their home state until gun control measures are enacted.

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

Both Delta and United said last Saturday 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 it would not renew a co-branded Visa credit card it has with the NRA. Most of these companies do promotional tie-ins with groups to spur customer loyalty to NRA members, and do not receive money directly from the NRA.

The moves have come as petitions circulated online targeting companies offering discounts to NRA members on its website. #BoycottNRA was trending on Twitter.

In an email last 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 recognize that patriotism and determined commitment to Constitutional freedoms are characteristics of a marketplace they very much want to serve,” the NRA statement said.

Corporate ties to the NRA are not the only elements undergoing scrutiny after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead on Valentine’s Day. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said he is investigating claims that some Coral Springs police officers saw several of his deputies outside the building after the shooting began.

Last Thursday, Scot Peterson, the school’s resource officer, resigned under fire from the sheriff’s office for failing to enter the building where police say former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, was gunning down students with an AR-15 assault-style rifle.