Calls for FedEx to sever ties with NRA after Parkland shooting

After the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which claimed 17 lives, companies including FedEx are facing calls to sever their ties with the controversial National Rifle Association (NRA).

The NRA is a gun rights advocacy group and one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the US. It has close ties with the gun manufacturing industry and has spent millions of dollars in recent years to support predominantly Republican political candidates who are favourable to its ideology.

The NRA is predicated on the Second Amendment right to bear and keep arms, but it has faced intense criticism following recent mass shootings for its promotion of easy access to semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 style rifle.

Since the Parkland shooting, Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, has backed President Donald Trump’s suggestion that arming teachers, rather than gun control, would help to prevent school shootings. LaPierre has accused gun control advocates of being “opportunists” who seek to exploit tragedies for political gain.

FedEx currently offers discounts of up to 26 per cent to certain NRA members. It is one of a number of high profile companies who are facing pressure to disassociate themselves from the NRA, under the #BoycottNRA movement on social media—a campaign led, in part, by teen survivors of the Parkland shooting.

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

United and Delta Airlines, car rental company Enterprise, and the First National Bank of Omaha are among the companies who have already promised to end existing contracts with the NRA.

FedEx, however, has not yet issued a response to the campaign, prompting calls to boycott the courier company.

(Sources: Bustle, Washington Post)