Airlines Drop NRA Affiliation As Group Responds To Boycott
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NEW YORK (AP/KDKA) - The National Rifle Association says companies that are severing ties with the gun rights group and its members are wrongly punishing them for a shooting at a Florida high school that claimed 17 lives.
In a statement sent Saturday, NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said the group's 5 million members have long enjoyed discounts and benefits from many American corporations.
"Since the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, a number of companies have decided to sever their relationship with 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," the statement said.
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The group says it had "nothing at all to do with the failure of that school's security preparedness ... or the cruel failures of both federal and local law enforcement."
Both Delta and United Airlines said Saturday they will no longer offer discounted fares to NRA members to attend their annual meetings, and both have asked the gun rights group to remove any references to their companies from the NRA website.
Delta is reaching out to the NRA to let them know we will be ending their contract for discounted rates through our group travel program. We will be requesting that the NRA remove our information from their website.
— Delta (@Delta) February 24, 2018
United is notifying the NRA that we will no longer offer a discounted rate to their annual meeting and we are asking that the NRA remove our information from their website.
— United Airlines (@united) February 24, 2018
Earlier this week, four rental car agencies -- Alamo, Enterprise, National and Hertz -- dropped their affiliation with the NRA, as did Symantec, MetLife, and the First National Bank of Omaha that was the official credit card of the NRA.
The NRA statement called the moves a "shameful display of political and civic cowardice."
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