People visit the National Rifle Association’s booth during the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday in National Harbor, Md. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Two major companies, Enterprise Holdings Inc. and First National Bank of Omaha ended co-branding partnerships with the National Rifle Association Thursday as a #BoycottNRA social media movement picked up steam.
Enterprise is the parent company of three car-rental brands: Enterprise, Alamo and National. The arrangement offered discounts to NRA members.
First National Bank of Omaha, one of the country’s largest privately held bank, announced the end of a credit-card co-branding deal with the NRA. The bank had issued what its ads described as the “Official Credit Card of the NRA,” according to the Omaha World-Herald. The Visa card offered 5 percent back on gas and sporting goods store purchases and a $40 bonus card.
The decisions came as names of companies with NRA associations began circulating widely on the Internet via social media under the #BoycottNRA hashtag in the wake of the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., by a gunman wielding an AR-15. The Feb. 14 shootings claimed 17 lives and drew anguished calls for a ban on assault weapons from students and families.
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American businesses have become increasingly aware politically and have participated in boycotts over the past few years against states over LGBT-rights issues. But the NRA is a well-funded membership operation devoted to a single cause — guns — and unlikely to be moved by the actions of companies with which it has such loose and peripheral tiesISING
The mass killing focused renewed attention on the NRA, which is credited with blocking gun control measures for years through millions of dollars in campaign contributions and pressure from its large membership base.
Like many other organizations, the NRA has benefit deals with companies designed to make membership more appealing. The NRA “member benefits” page offers savings on a credit card, hearing aids, car rentals, travel, car purchases and prescription drugs, among other things.
Hashtags urging boycotts of specific companies involved in the deals sprouted up over the past few days across social media. People then started posting comments on the social media platforms of many of the companies urging them to take action.
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National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 22, after the Florida shooting. (The Washington Post)
The Omaha bank appears to have been the first to respond.
“Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA,” the bank said in a statement posted on Twitter. “As a result, First National Bank of Omaha will not renew its contract with the National Rifle Association to issue the NRA Visa Card.”
Enterprise followed a few hours later on Thursday. “All three of our brands have ended the discount for NRA members,” said a tweet on the Enterprise Rent-A-Car account.
The NRA had not commented on the move by late Thursday. The World-Herald quoted Rod Moeller, director of government affairs for the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association, saying that the group will “be giving strong consideration to moving their accounts to a bank that hasn’t bowed to political pressure.”
Boycott movements have become increasingly effective political tools over the past few years. Indiana got hit hard by threatened boycotts in 2015 when then-Gov. Mike Pence signed legislation allowing businesses and individuals to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. The Indiana legislature and Pence reversed the measure within two weeks.
In 2016, North Carolina was the target of a business boycott after it enacted a “bathroom bill” requiring transgender people to use bathrooms based on their assigned gender at birth. After the NCAA canceled tournaments in the state and PayPal decided not to build a new facility in the state, the legislation was partially repealed.
The NRA claims 5 million members and corporate allies in the gun industry that provide the organization with tens of millions of dollars per year. The group devotes massive resources to fighting gun regulations in the name of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms.
The organization is unlikely to be swayed from its main mission by boycotts or corporate disaffiliations.