Following news that more than a dozen companies had severed ties with the NRA, ending discounts for the group’s over five million members, the NRA issued a statement pointing out that more companies are ready and willing to step in and partner with law-abiding gun owners.
On February 24 Breitbart News reported a summary list of companies planning to end their relationship with the NRA:
- First National Bank of Omaha
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car
- Symantec
- Metlife
- Delta Airlines
- United
- Best Western
- Alamo Rent a Car
- Avis
- Allied Van Lines
- Budget
- Chubb Insurance
- Hertz
- North American Van Lines
- Paramount Rx
- SimpliSafe
- TrueCar
The NRA sent Breitbart News a statement regarding companies’ decisions to sever ties:
The more than five million law-abiding members of the National Rifle Association have enjoyed discounts and cost-saving programs from many American corporations that have partnered with the NRA to expand member benefits.
Since the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, a number of companies have decided to sever their relationshipwith the NRA, in an effort to punish our members who are doctors, farmers, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, nurses, shop owners and school teachers that live in every American community. We are men and women who represent every American ethnic group, every one of the world’s religions and every form of political commitment.
The law-abiding members of the NRA had nothing at all to do with the failure of that school’s security preparedness, the failure of America’s mental health system, the failure of the National Instant Check System or the cruel failures of both federal and local law enforcement.
Despite that, some corporations have decided to punish NRA membership in a shameful display of political and civic cowardice. In time, these brands will be replaced by others who recognize that patriotism and determined commitment to Constitutional freedoms are characteristics of a marketplace they very much want to serve.
Let it be absolutely clear. The loss of a discount will neither scare nor distract one single NRA member from our mission to stand and defend the individual freedoms that have always made America the greatest nation in the world.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.