NRA Backlash: Major Companies Cave to Anti-Gun Pressure

Businesses terminate NRA partnerships

Infowars.com - February 23, 2018

Several companies are distancing themselves from the National Rifle Association in the wake of the Parkland shooting.

First National Bank of Omaha, the largest privately-owned bank in the US, announced Thursday it would be terminating NRA Visa credit cards, which featured the organization’s logo and gave users a $40 bonus for signing up.

Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA. As a result, First National Bank of Omaha will not renew its contract with the National Rifle Association to issue the NRA Visa Card.

— First National Bank (@FNBOmaha) February 22, 2018

“Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA,” the bank tweeted. “As a result, First National Bank of Omaha will not renew its contract with the National Rifle Association to issue the NRA Visa Card.”

Likewise car rental giant Enterprise Holdings, which operates Enterprise Rent-a-car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car, declared Thursday that all three of their brands would be terminating discounts for NRA members.

The Hertz car rental company also announced Friday NRA members would no longer be eligible for their car discount program.

We have notified the NRA that we are ending the NRA’s rental car discount program with Hertz.

— Hertz (@Hertz) February 23, 2018

Thank you for contacting us, Ciara! We have ended the discount for NRA members. This change will be effective March 26. Thank you again for reaching out. Kind regards, Michael

— EnterpriseRentACar (@enterprisecares) February 23, 2018

Investment firm BlackRock, the largest gunmaker shareholder, also indicated it would be working with firearms manufacturers “to understand their response” to the shooting, but did not say it would divest from gun companies which make up $6 trillion in assets.

Anti-malware software company Symantec and insurance company MetLife also both issued statements Friday announcing they were also discontinuing discounts on products for NRA members.

Symantec has stopped its discount program with the National Rifle Association.

— Symantec (@symantec) February 23, 2018

We value all our customers but have decided to end our discount program with the NRA.

— MetLife (@MetLife) February 23, 2018

The business decisions followed the publication of an article by ThinkProgress shaming companies over their ties to the NRA, which has been blamed by leftists for last week’s mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla.


The companies that have cut ties with the NRA are:

Hertz
Chubb
Met Life
Symantec
Simplisafe
Best Western
Wyndham Hotels
Alamo Rent A Car
National Rent A Car
Enterprise Rent A Car
First National Bank of Omaha
Delta Airlines
United Airlines


Like a similar incident with Sean Hannity from earlier, we should support companies that support our right to defend ourselves and boycott those that don't.

They'll be back. Or other companies will take their place. Several people have told me, just in the last few days, that they intend to join the NRA or renew their membership.

Onward and upward,
airforce

I have a friend who is a former reform church pastor. He's an intellectual pacifist with very conservative Christian beliefs. He's retired, never owned a gun, or even shot one.

He just signed up to be an NRA member because he sees what is being done to them, and values what they represent. On his Facebook page, he shared this story with a link to their membership page. Quite a few of his friends of like mind are becoming members as well.

Boycotts against the NRA are backfiring. it looks like someone else noticed.

Onward and upward,
airforce

The number to cancel the NRA credit cards has been backed up for over a half an hour continuously since they announced they were leaving the NRA. Members in droves are telling the issuing bank to take their card and SHOVE it!

I wonder how much money they are going to lose this year alone in interest?

Money talks and BS walks!

This Florida gun show has never seen numbers like this .

Onward and upward,
airforce

Son was telling me about a new tactic by a couple of Democraps at a gun show in OK, where one sold an AR 15 to his Brother Democrat on FB for $135.00 with a big show of NOT asking for ID or background check.

PRICE was the dead giveaway as he said AR were being offered for STUPID high prices by everyone else.

False flag tactics!

Dick's Sporting Goods has just quit selling "assault-style rifles." And I just quit buying ammo or anything else from Dick's Sporting Goods.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Corporate America throws weight behind gun controls

By Melanie Zanona - 03/03/18


Corporate America is taking the lead on gun control as Congress slides back into gridlock on the issue.

Several major retailers have decided to impose new restrictions on firearm sales, while numerous companies have moved to cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The business moves underscore the growing sense that the political winds are shifting on gun control following the latest mass shooting at a Florida high school.

“This is the biggest signal to me that on this issue, there has been a tipping point,” said Rich Masters, head of North America crisis and issues management for Qorvis. “Companies don’t do this unless they know they are gonna be on fairly safe ground.”

Calls for action on gun control have been steadily mounting ever since the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last month that left 17 students and faculty members dead.

The students who survived the shooting have become powerful voices in the debate, bringing their emotional pleas to cable television, the White House and Capitol Hill.

But it’s U.S. businesses — not members of Congress — that have so far answered their calls for action.

Dick’s Sporting Goods announced this week that it would stop selling assault-style rifles and stop gun sales to those under the age of 21, two gun control proposals that have been floated by members of Congress following the Florida shooting.

The 19-year-old suspect in the attack was believed to have purchased an AR-15 legally, and allegedly used the weapon to kill students at his former high school.

During an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," Dick's CEO Ed Stack said he was "disturbed and saddened" by the attack.

"Based on what's happened, and looking at those kids and those parents, it moved us all unimaginably and to think about the loss and the grief that those kids and those parents had, we said, 'we need to do something,' " he added.

Other companies quickly followed suit.

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, announced it would hike the minimum age for firearm purchases to 21 and remove items from its website “resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys.”

L.L. Bean said Thursday it will no longer sell guns or ammunition to anyone under 21 years of age, while Kroger announced the same day that it would raise the minimum age for gun purchases and ammunition at its Fred Meyer stores to 21 years of age.

“Kroger's vision is to serve America through food inspiration and uplift,” the grocery store chain said in its statement. “In response to the tragic events in Parkland and elsewhere, we've taken a hard look at our policies and procedures for firearm sales.”

Other businesses have distanced themselves from the NRA.

Two major outdoor retailers, REI and Mountain Equipment Co-op of Canada, decided this week to stop selling products from a sporting goods company that is connected to the NRA and produces assault-style weapons.

Companies that have direct business relationships with the NRA have also come under pressure to cut ties with the group.

The student survivors from the Parkland shooting have focused much of their attention on the powerful gun group and Republican lawmakers who have received contributions from it.

Activists have threatened boycotts and flooded social media with comments criticizing companies that have deals with the NRA, ranging from discount programs to a Visa credit card that has NRA branding.

In response, several companies — including two airlines, six car rental companies, a bank and an insurance company — have ended their corporate sponsorships with the gun group.

The NRA lambasted the companies over the moves, calling it a “shameful display of political and civic cowardice.”

Public relations experts say that companies are likely basing their decisions on the poll numbers, which suggest that the support for gun control is higher than ever before.

“For the first time ever, the numbers are really clear cut,” Masters said. “In general, companies only jump into the middle of contentious political issues when the numbers have significantly shifted in a way that they view as safe for their brand.”

Corporations may also feel a moral obligation to take the issue into their own hands, Masters said, since businesses can move far more swiftly than Congress.

And companies may also sense that there could be changes on the horizon anyway, since President Trump himself has called for raising the age requirement to buy rifles and other reforms.

But diving head first into the politically charged debate could also be a risky gambit for some businesses.

Delta Air Lines, for example, faced a fierce backlash after it ended its discount program for NRA members.

Lawmakers in Georgia, where the airline has its headquarters, this week removed a $38 million tax exemption for jet fuel from tax-cut legislation.

Georgia's Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (R), who is also running for governor, had threatened to kill any tax legislation that benefits Delta after the NRA flap.

Delta has tried to quell the controversy, saying it is reviewing all discounts of a “politically divisive nature” and insisting that their intent was to remain neutral in the debate.

“They’re potentially putting their brands at risk,” Masters said.

Membership in gun groups is growing.

Onward and upward,
airforce

SMH, these people never learn. Hopefully this gives some fuel to the fight for Texas succession.

Oregon: 20-Year-Old Sues Dick’s Sporting Goods for Refusing to Sell Rifle


by AWR Hawkins5 Mar 2018

A 20-year-old is suing Dick’s Sporting Goods after being refused a Ruger .22 rifle purchase based on his age.

The plaintiff, Tyler Watson, claims he faced “Unlawful Age Discrimination.”

Watson attempted to buy the rifle “on or about February 24” at a Medford, Oregon, Field and Stream store. (Field and Stream is subsidiary of Dick’s.) Watson’s suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Oregon for the County of Jackson, says a store employee refused the purchase and indicated, “He would not sell [Watson] any firearm, including rifles and shotguns, or ammunition for a firearm, because [Watson] is under 21 years old.”

The employee referenced Dick’s recent policy shift, disallowing firearm sales to anyone under 21, and cited the policy as the reason for denying the sale.

Watson’s suit alleges that Dick’s policy violates Oregon law against age-based discrimination for people 18 years and older in places of public accommodations. State law includes prohibitions against discrimination in stores that are open to the general public.

Watson also filed a separate suit claiming a Walmart store in Josephine County, Oregon, discriminated against him by denying him a rifle sale “on or about March 3, 2018.” As with Dick’s, the Walmart employee at the gun counter allegedly told Watson that rifles and shotguns could not be sold to individuals under the age of 21. The employee indicated that ammunition for firearms could not be sold to anyone under 21 either.

In both suits Watson alleges that the defendants, Dick’s and Walmart, not only discriminated but “advertised … unlawful discriminatory policies by issuing a press release, and other materials, stating that [the defendants] will no longer sell any firearms or ammunition to any person under the age of 21.”

On February 28, 2018, Breitbart News reported Dick’s Sporting Goods’ announcement that they would no longer sell firearms to anyone under the age of 21. That same day, Walmart announced that it would no longer sell guns to anyone under the age of 21.

This is interesting. The suit isn't a constitutional case at all- it's based on one particular statute in Oregon only - and it looks like a winner.

Here is the statute:

The statute specifically lists the allowable exceptions, and the purchase of firearms is not one of them. The law allows for the awarding of reasonable attorney fees, and compensation and punitive damages may also be awarded.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Delta Air Lines Donated Three Round Trip Charter Flights to the Anti-Gun Movement

Delta flies protesters to recent anti-gun march for free.

Utah – -(Ammoland.com)- The anti-gun movement is better funded than ever with large donations from some of the biggest corporations in America.

While there are a whole slew of companies donating to gun control organizations, we have decided to highlight Delta Air Lines' recent actions as they are the largest airline here in Salt Lake City and for the two-faced way they are supporting the gun control movement while claiming they don't take a position on the issue.

In February at the height of the gun control debate, Delta publicly booted the NRA from a discount program it was offering NRA members who were attending the annual convention. Unfortunately for Delta, their actions did not sit well with many pro-gun lawmakers in the Georgia Legislature, and a bill that would have saved Delta $150 million in fuel taxes was voted down. After being spanked by the Legislature, Delta stated they take no position on the gun control issue and were severing ties with politically-divisive groups. As a business decision, the USSC understands this. Giving support to the NRA or Moms Demand Action is going to piss off half of your customer base.



Of course, as always, actions speak louder than words. Last week Delta donated three round trip charter flights to fly high school students and teachers to the March for Our Lives gun control rally in Washington, D.C.

This rally was not a memorial to students who were killed in Parkland Florida. They were not bringing up students with diverse viewpoints to look at various solutions on school violence. They were flying students to a march which was solely intended to get Congress to pass laws that would infringe on your Second Amendment rights.

What is most cowardly about Delta's actions is that they want to support the gun control movement but are still claiming they take no position on the issue.

On Monday we were contacted by several Delta employees who said their employee website stated that Delta donated the flights as part of their commitment to supporting the communities they serve and that Delta takes no position on the gun control issue.

As one employee told us “These guys run one of the most profitable airlines in the world; they are not stupid. They know they are supporting the anti-gun cause. But apparently they must think we are stupid because they are trying to tell us they take no position on the issue.”

According to this employee, by Sunday the post had disappeared from the site. None of the Delta employees that we talked to were willing to come on the Gun Radio Utah this weekend to discuss the issue citing fear of retaliation by Delta. We will be reaching out to Delta and offering them a chance to comment on this issue on Gun Radio Utah this Saturday from 3:00-4:00pm on 105.9 FM / 570 AM KNRS.

What is sad about Delta's participation in this march is that, by contributing to the anti-gun movement, they have helped take the focus off making schools safer and put the focus on going after gun owners.

If you are a Delta customer, a Delta Million Miler, or just want to share your comments with Delta, you can do so at this link.

Delta Air Lines Comment Page

https://www.delta.com/contactus/commentComplaint

Bank of America to stop lending to military-style weapons makers

By Luis Sanchez - 04/10/18

A Bank of America executive announced Tuesday that the bank will stop lending money to companies that manufacture "military-style" rifles that are available for civilians to purchase.

Anne Finucane, Bank of America’s vice chair, told Bloomberg TV that the bank doesn’t want to “underwrite or finance military-style firearms” and has told a number of gun manufacturers that it will no longer do business with them.

The bank has lended to the gun makers Vista Outdoor, Remington and Sturm Ruger, CNBC reported.

Bank of America had said that after the shooting in Parkland, Fla., in mid-February it was exploring ways it could contribute to stemming gun violence. The confessed gunman in that shooting used an AR-15-style rifle.

"These are clients we have enjoyed a relationship with," Finucane said. "There are those I think will reduce their portfolios and we'll work with them and others that will choose to do something else."

Asked if Bank of America would stop doing business with retailers that sell assault weapons, Finucane said that would involve complicated issues dealing with civil liberties and the Second Amendment.

"That's a good public dialogue, but that's a ways off," she said.

Finucane said that reaction from gun manufacturers to Bank of America’s decision has been mixed.