Survivor calls for a spring break boycott
One of the Parkland school shooting survivors is calling on tourists to boycott the state of Florida for spring break as a way to get legislators’ attention focused on gun control.
“Let's make a deal DO NOT come to Florida for spring break unless gun legislation is passed,” David Hogg, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student who is a leader in the #neveragain movement, posted on Twitter on Saturday.
Hogg said he hoped his tweet would make state politicians listen if the “billion-dollar tourism industry in Florida” makes gun control measures a priority.
“If the legislators aren’t going to listen to us, like they didn’t listen to us in Tallahassee the other day, maybe they’ll listen to the tourism industry,” Hogg told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a phone interview.
Hogg is one of the most recognizable faces in the movement. The TV production student recorded updates and interviewed fellow students on video while they hid in a tiny darkened classroom during the mass shooting.
Former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, is jailed on 17 counts of murder. State prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges but, if convicted, he would face life in prison or the death penalty.
The National Rifle Association and the gun industry are facing a growing backlash in the aftermath of the Feb. 14 mass shooting that left 17 people dead and several more injured.
The latest companies to end their ties with the NRA were Delta and United Airlines, the first and third largest U.S.-based airline companies by revenue, respectively.
Both Delta and United said Saturday they will 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 NRA website.
A growing number of large companies have announced they are cutting or reducing ties with the NRA. Rental car company Hertz will no longer offer a discount program to NRA members and First National Bank of Omaha said it will not renew a co-branded credit card it has with the NRA.
The NRA claims 5 million members, takes in tens of millions of dollars through memberships, and devotes resources to fighting gun regulations in the name of constitutional protections that guarantee Americans the right to bear arms.
The NRA in a statement Saturday said companies are wrongly punishing the group for the shooting.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. from
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