NRA Boycott: What Companies Are Still Partnered with NRA?
Dozens of high-profile companies severed their sponsorships and discounts previously offered to National Rifle Association members in the wake of the February 14 shooting that left 17 Florida high school students dead. But some of the Virginia-based gun lobby’s most powerful partners either refused to part ways with the NRA or have simply failed to respond to widespread calls to cut ties.
Perhaps the NRA’s most high-profile partnerships are with tech giants Amazon, YouTube, Apple and Roku. All of these companies have so far declined to halt streaming of the gun lobby’s television channel, NRATV. Widespread attention has focused on Amazon continuing to carry the NRAtv channel.
“The NRA is a group that’s rotten to the core and a company like Amazon should not be spreading their message. Not anymore,” reads a Change.org petition with more than 170,000 signatures.
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Several other companies have refused to halt more direct discounts and partnerships with the NRA itself despite a widespread #BoycottNRA social media campaign. FedEx will continue to offer 18 to 26 percent discounts on shipping for NRA members. The Hyatt Regency in Dallas will continue to host NRA events, including the group’s annual convention in May. HotelPlanner will continue to offer airfare and hotel discounts.
Midway USA, Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas outdoor sporting goods chains all stated their continued resolve to support the NRA. Midway USA issued a statement doubling down in response, saying “no company in America is more dedicated” to the NRA.
Conservative commentators immediately called for their listeners to boycott companies or products cutting ties with the NRA, framing it as a repression of free speech. The financial effects of boycotts on either side of the NRA issue are still yet to be calculated.
"People should study that list," said Fox News host Tony Katz. "This is the list of companies that don't believe in freedom of thought...or freedom of expression."
Other companies include Vinesse Wines, which operates the “official wine club of the NRA,” Clearent, Lockton Affinity, Chromecast, Omni Hotels, Manage URLD, NetSpend, Life Line Screening, and Vista Outdoor will continue to host the NRA's annual gun show booth and sponsor NRAtv.
The NRA touts itself as an organization promoting “responsible gun ownership,” but several corporations issued statements labeling their leadership as irresponsible and focused only on increasing gun owners.
In the immediate aftermath of the country’s latest mass school shooting, companies that offered everything from NRA-emblazoned credit cards to hotel discounts pulled the plug on their partnerships with the more than 5 million-member group. Chubb insurance halted underwriting of the NRA’s “Carry Guard” firearms program, First National Bank of Omaha will no longer offer NRA-branded credit cards and several major transportation companies including Hertz, United Airlines, Delta Airlines and Enterprise also discontinued discounts to NRA members.
Although there have been several widespread calls for boycotts after past mass shooting events, the NRA was particularly aggressive in responding after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school murders, in which shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, toted an AR-15.
“Some corporations have decided to punish NRA membership in a shameful display of political and civic cowardice,” the NRA said in a statement last week.