Multiple companies are cutting ties with the National Rifle Association in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida that left 17 people dead. Several corporations, ranging from Delta to Hertz to MetLife, have said they will end discount agreements with the NRA or otherwise sever ties with the nation’s largest gun advocacy group.
These are the companies cutting ties with the NRA after Florida shooting
Delta. Hertz. MetLife. Symantec. TrueCar.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Emily Stewart covered business and economics for Vox and wrote the newsletter The Big Squeeze, examining the ways ordinary people are being squeezed under capitalism. Before joining Vox, she worked for TheStreet.
The NRA, like the AARP or AAA, promotes discounts in order to entice potential members to join. Its “member benefits” page advertises discounts on insurance, car rentals, travel, and even a wine club. Many of the companies offering such discounts and other NRA-related benefits, products, or services have split.
The NRA has lately remained defiant in its unequivocal pro-gun stance, despite growing public pressure for lawmakers, regulators, and, increasingly, corporate America to do something on guns. It released a video this week blaming the “mainstream media” for mass shootings in America and Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA, told an audience at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday that the post-Parkland gun control push is the result of socialism. “Their solution is to make you, all of you, less free,” he said.
At CPAC, Dana Loesch, the NRA’s national spokeswoman, said that “many in legacy media love mass shootings.” CNN’s Alisyn Camerota hit back at Loesch’s assertion on Friday. “You’re wrong on every single level,” she said. Stephen Crockett Jr. at the Root called Loesch’s comments “deranged.”
The Parkland shooting — and the NRA’s absurd, insensitive response to it — has increased pressure from consumers and activists on companies to cut ties. The hashtag #BoycottNRA has begun to pop up on Twitter.
Apple, Amazon, and Google are also under pressure to drop NRAtv, the lobbying group’s streaming channel. They have yet to act. A number of companies are sticking by the NRA, at least for now, including FedEx, which has been under activist pressure to end its discount for the NRA for over a year.
Here’s a list of which companies, so far, have cut ties with the NRA:
- Avis said it will end its NRA member discount in March.
- Symantec, which owns Norton AntiVirus and LifeLock, severed its partnership discount program.
- MetLife ended its discount program for NRA members.
- SimpliSafe, a home security company, said it ended its relationship with the NRA.
- Best Western said it has no affiliation with the NRA, nor is a corporate partner. It is unclear when it cut ties.
- Wyndham Hotels appears to have cut ties with the NRA in late 2017, before Parkland.
- First National Bank of Omaha said it would stop issuing co-branded credit cards with the NRA.
- United Airlines said it would no longer offer its special rate for the NRA’s annual meeting.
- Delta ended its contract for group travel discounts.
- Insurer Chubb said it would stop underwriting NRA-branded insurance for gun owners. Per Reuters, it made the decision months ago.
