NRA Boycotts Fall Flat... Galvanize Conservatives To Band Together
Liberal activists’ efforts to pressure corporations to sever ties with the National Rifle Association appear to be having the unintended consequence of galvanizing support for the Second Amendment advocacy organization.
In the aftermath of the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, last week, several major corporations including United and Delta Airlines, Hertz, Avis, Symantec and MetLife announced they will no longer be offering discounts to NRA members, USA Today reported.
According to The Daily Caller, the liberal group ThinkProgress — funded by George Soros via the Center for American Progress — has taken credit for launching the boycott campaign.
Other left-wing groups, including Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and Everytown for Gun Safety, are pushing Amazon, Apple and Google to shut down NRATV on their platforms.
The NRA responded to the boycott campaign with a statement released Saturday.
“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,” the NRA’s statement read.
“Let it be absolutely clear,” the group said. “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.”
Thousands have shown their support for the NRA online in response to the boycotts.
The top reply to United Airlines announcement of its plans to take away the NRA discount was one who questioned, “Why do companies insist on playing politics and risk losing a lot of business? The NRA didn’t cause this. Law enforcement failures are mostly responsible. #badbusiness.”
Townhall editor Guy Benson launched a series of tweets on Sunday directed at United, saying he is not even a “guns person” or a member of the NRA and the company’s action offends him.
He further pointed out United appears to have no moral issue maintaining ties with the nation’s top abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.
Talk radio host and former congressman Joe Walsh noted that companies like United and Avis do not seem to understand they are not just alienating NRA members but the “ten of millions of gun owners from all over the country.”
The Daily Caller pointed out efforts by coffeemaker company Keurig and insurer USAA to boycott Sean Hannity’s Fox News program last year faced such backlash from conservatives that both corporations reversed course.
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