Protesters Target Hotels Offering Discounts to NRA Members

A global activist group is targeting two large hotel chains because they give discounts to members of the National Rifle Association.

The organization is putting pressure on the hotel chains to force them to disassociate from the gun-rights group after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. 

The group, Avaaz, described as a “a global campaign network of 17 million people” is pressuring “Wyndham Hotels Worldwide – which owns Ramada, Days Inn, Wingate and Super 8 – and Best Western” because both organizations are listed as “friends of the NRA” on the NRA’s website.  

Joseph Huff-Hannon, a senior campaigner at Avaaz, said the hotels needed to “get out of bed with the extremist NRA,” and “Newtown must mark the end of the group’s stranglehold on our politics.”

Avaaz has organized a petition that has “at least 66,000” signatures, and some of Avaaz’s members have written that the hotel chains should “get out of bed,” parroting Huff-Hannon’s comments on the offical Facebook pages of the Wyndham Hotels and Best Western. 

One message on the Wyndham Hotels Facebook page reads: 

The Connecticut shooting killed 28 poor souls, but my hometown of Flint has already seen SIXTY-FIVE HOMICIDES this year alone. This is not an isolated incidence. Wyndham Hotels, why are you in bed with the NRA? Until you pull your hotels from affiliation with the gun lobby, I will not set foot in any of your hotels or motels, and I’ll tell all my friends and family to do the same.

Another message on the Best Western Facebook page says: 

Is Best Western a violent organization? Apparently, it is. It supports the widespread use of guns by supporting the NRA and their profit motive to get MORE GUNS in the hands of Americans and in their home- where they are then used to cause more harm than good. THAT, is Best Western today, no way around it. What will Best Western be tomorrow? Bankrupt or a healthy entity supporting the betterment of our lives? Decisions, decisions …

A Wyndham Hotels spokesman said:

We are a hospitality company focused on our service promise to be responsive, be respectful and deliver great experiences to our customers, guests, partners and communities, as well as to each other. As part of our company’s core values, we serve diverse individuals and organizations.

Photo: Doug Hay