Corporate partners cut cord with NRA as gun control debate rages

[rooster59]

Corporate partners cut cord with NRA as gun control debate rages

By Barbara Goldberg and Gina Cherelus

 

People sign up at the booth for the National Rifle Association (NRA) at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 23, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The fallout over last week's shooting rampage at a Florida high school started to take its toll on the National Rifle Association's roster of corporate partners on Friday as a half dozen companies severed marketing ties with the gun advocacy organzation.

 

The exodus of corporate names, ranging from a major insurer to car rental brands and a household moving company, occurred after the NRA launched a counter-offensive against a student-led campaign for tighter U.S. gun ownership laws.

 

At the same time, gun control activists are stepping up pressure on Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> and other online streaming platforms to drop the online video channel NRATV, featuring gun-friendly programming produced by the NRA.

 

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, founded after 20 first-graders were shot and killed at a Connecticut school in 2012, sent letters to Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, AT&T Inc <T.N>, Amazon, Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google and Roku Inc <ROKU.O> on Friday, asking them to drop NRATV from their platforms.

 

"We have been just disgusted by NRATV since its beginning," Shannon Watts, founder of the Moms Demand Action group, told Reuters. "It tries to pit Americans against one another, all in an attempt to further their agenda of selling guns."

 

AT&T said it does not carry NRATV. None of the other companies immediately responded to requests for comment.

 

The issue of gun control, and the NRA's role in opposing it, became the focus of renewed national debate on Feb. 14, when a former student killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with an AR-15 assault rifle he had purchased legally.

 

The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to bear arms. The NRA, which has long used campaign donations and effective lobbying to command political influence, argues that stricter gun control would erode individual rights. The group has not commented on companies cutting ties.

 

Angry student survivors of the shooting have confronted politicians from state lawmakers to U.S. President Donald Trump himself, demanding stricter gun control laws.

 

In response, the NRA and Trump have suggested arming teachers who have received training to deter attackers, a proposal that has been met with skepticism by teachers unions and gun violence experts.

 

TRENDING ON TWITTER

 

Before the corporate defections, nearly two dozen companies nationwide had offered incentives to NRA members, according to ThinkProgress.com, a news site owned by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

 

The attrition started late Thursday when three rental car brands owned by Enterprise Holdings Inc said they were ending discount programs, and First National Bank of Omaha said it would not renew the NRA's contract to issue a co-branded Visa card.

 

By Friday, the list of defectors expanded to include Symantec Corp <SYMC.O>, which ended an discount program for its LifeLock identity theft product. Home security company SimpliSafe and Hertz Corp also terminated discount programs.

 

Chubb Ltd <CB.N> said it would stop underwriting a NRA-branded insurance policy for gun owners that covers legal costs in self-defense shootings. Another insurer, MetLife Inc <MET.N>, also said it had ended an auto and home incentive program for NRA members. And North American Van Lines said it was scrapping its an affiliate relationship with the NRA.

 

David Hogg, one of the student survivors of last week's attack who launched the #NeverAgain anti-gun violence movement, said the students would target any company with ties to the NRA, in addition to lawmakers who accept donations.

 

About a dozen other companies with marketing ties to the NRA, including FedEx Corp <FDX.N> and Hertz <HTZ.N>, which offer discount programs, did not respond to requests for comment.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

 

Activists have also called on public pension funds to divest from gun maker stocks, which were broadly lower on Friday.

 

Meanwhile, an online campaign using the Twitter hashtag #StopNRAmazon picked up steam, putting pressure on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to drop the channel. Many of those tweeting are in the entertainment industry.

 

"Ironic how the @NRA likes to point a finger at what kids watch on TV ... while they spew vile rhetoric on NRAtv, streamed on @Amazon and aimed solely at boosting gun sales," wrote screenwriter Randi Mayem Singer.

 

Moms Demand Action, which sent the letters to the streaming platform, also posted an online petition using the hashtag #DumpNRATV.

 

"To be affiliated with them, whether you are a company or a lawmaker, it is not going to pay off in the long run," said Watts, the group's founder, signaling the start of a broader campaign. "Doing business with the NRA is clearly bad business."

 

The target of its ire is NRATV, which describes itself as "America's Most Patriotic Team on a Mission to Take Back The Truth." The channel features programming that leans heavily on speeches by NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and spokeswoman Dana Loesch.

 

Yet another campaign, using the hashtag #BoycottNRA, was the top trending topic on Twitter on Friday morning.

 

The push is the latest effort by social activists to use social media to apply economic pressure to force change.

 

Last April, Fox News parted ways with television host Bill O'Reilly when sponsors started to drop his show in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him.

 

Similarly the National Football League announced a tougher policy on handling domestic violence accusations against players when its marketing partners applied pressure for changes.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-24

[mfd101]

Surprising that so many mainstream companies - Amazon, Symantec ... - would want to be associated with NRA in the first place.

[robertson468]

Food for thought.  Austalia used to have similar gun laws as the USA and was suffering the same level of deaths (murders) by their citizens until they brought their laws in to line with the UK and other Europeans Countries.  The death rate I understand dropped by about 90%.  Perhaps those in the US who are lobbying for a considerable change should use this as an example.  Interesting that those who do not want to have a change in the US keep quoting the 2nd Amendment.  Surely that implies that if the law has been amended before, it can be amended again to save this wonton waste of young lives?

[Emster23]

".. occurred after the NRA launched a counter-offensive against a student-led campaign..."

Looks like NRA shot itself in the foot....

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, robertson468 said:

Food for thought.  Austalia used to have similar gun laws as the USA and was suffering the same level of deaths (murders) by their citizens until they brought their laws in to line with the UK and other Europeans Countries.  The death rate I understand dropped by about 90%.  Perhaps those in the US who are lobbying for a considerable change should use this as an example.  Interesting that those who do not want to have a change in the US keep quoting the 2nd Amendment.  Surely that implies that if the law has been amended before, it can be amended again to save this wonton waste of young lives?

 

It certainly can.

 

As the 18th amendment was when it was repealed by the 21st amendment.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2018 by Enoon

[Enoon]

3 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

It certainly can.

 

As the 18th amendment was when it was repealed by the 21st amendment.

 

 

 

The other alternative is to return to the original intention of the 2nd amendment, which was "to maintain a well regulated militia" (for National defence), and reword it so that only those who are members of a well regulated militia (Federally regulated) can bear arms.

 

That would be in addition to those who currently use guns for legitimate "work".

 

 

Edited February 24, 2018 by Enoon

[Basil B]

3 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

The other alternative is to return to the original intention of the 2nd amendment, which was "to maintain a well regulated militia" (for National defence), and reword it so that only those who are members of a well regulated militia (Federally regulated) can bear arms.

 

That would be in addition to those who currently use guns for legitimate "work".

 

 

Too easy...

 

As pointed out in other posts other countries have better laws, surely plagiarism would be acceptable...  

 

But well done to those corporations who no longer wish to be associated with the "Bloody" NRA

[tigermoth]

3 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

The other alternative is to return to the original intention of the 2nd amendment, which was "to maintain a well regulated militia" (for National defence), and reword it so that only those who are members of a well regulated militia (Federally regulated) can bear arms.

 

That would be in addition to those who currently use guns for legitimate "work".

 

 

yes, that's what the military is for. Ban all guns except those required by law enforcement, milatary, farmers who need to protect livestock, certain gun clubs and hunting organisations and of course it goes without saying this must be selective, i.e. no automatic weapons for some groups, hand guns, and must be subject to strict personal checks.

[tigermoth]

The NRA is responsible for the majority of gun deaths in the USA and by politicle association so is the government. They should be ashamed of themselves. Why don't the American people rise up in protest.

[nausea]

Toxic, they've made their own bed, now they have to lie in it. Just a few small concessions would have given them some legitimacy.

[wabothai]

3 hours ago, tigermoth said:

The NRA is responsible for the majority of gun deaths in the USA and by politicle association so is the government. They should be ashamed of themselves. Why don't the American people rise up in protest.

start with beheading the snake

[lcp0761]

 

 

Boycott the NRA!


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

[lcp0761]

 

 

Boycott the NRA!


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

[Scott]

Troll post reported and removed.  

[ilostmypassword]

16 hours ago, robertson468 said:

Food for thought.  Austalia used to have similar gun laws as the USA and was suffering the same level of deaths (murders) by their citizens until they brought their laws in to line with the UK and other Europeans Countries.  The death rate I understand dropped by about 90%.  Perhaps those in the US who are lobbying for a considerable change should use this as an example.  Interesting that those who do not want to have a change in the US keep quoting the 2nd Amendment.  Surely that implies that if the law has been amended before, it can be amended again to save this wonton waste of young lives?

The homicide rate dropped but by nothing close to 90 percent.  The homicide rate dropped by about 37 percent. But after the law was put into effect, there were no more mass murders. The homicide rate dropped by about 37 percent.

https://www.factcheck.org/2017/10/gun-control-australia-updated/

[PhonThong]

13 hours ago, tigermoth said:

The NRA is responsible for the majority of gun deaths in the USA and by politicle association so is the government. They should be ashamed of themselves. Why don't the American people rise up in protest.

They will if they try and take their guns away.

[bendejo]

They pushed it too far.

In his speech at CPAC (they say he was originally not scheduled to speak) the NRA boss said that those opposing his organization were part of a socialist plot etc.  This takes the NRA cause from constitutional rights campaigning to fending off what he is portraying as a threat to the nation.  More guns and more divisiveness will make America great again (), but not good for any other business than armaments and survival stuff.  The same people who condemned Black Lives Matter for their criticism of US law enforcement are now themselves openly criticizing the FBI.  These same right-wingers also favor a US president who is weak on standing up to Russia.

 

The US press has been fairly silent on Syria for the past year.  At first, DT sold out the Syrian resistance to the Russians (and not much reported about this in the US) and in the past few weeks US has started giving the Russians grief over there.  My guess is DT told the military to back off, but now they are doing strikes without the consent of the White House: can this be something on the level of a US military coup?  Will the DT fans take up arms against the military to defend the Orange One? 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2018 by bendejo

[jvs]

This could be a major issue in the next election,finally the gun lobby

is starting to show cracks.

More to come i am sure,

[LPCustom69]

NRA memberships will double in the next 6 months.

[Berkshire]

On 2/25/2018 at 7:16 AM, ilostmypassword said:

The homicide rate dropped but by nothing close to 90 percent.  The homicide rate dropped by about 37 percent. But after the law was put into effect, there were no more mass murders. The homicide rate dropped by about 37 percent.

https://www.factcheck.org/2017/10/gun-control-australia-updated/

37%?  That's not 90%, but certainly a lot of people not dead.