We had submissions from three Soylentils with different takes on the NRA (National Rifle Association) and the public response in the wake of an attack at a Parkland, Florida high school.
Common Dreams reports:
In the latest sign that the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida tragedy may be playing out differently than the fallout from other mass shootings, several national companies have cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA).
[Car rental companies] Alamo, Enterprise, and National--all owned by Enterprise Holdings--announced late on [February 22] that they would end discounts for the NRA's five million members. Symantec, the security software giant that owns Lifelock and Norton, ended its discount program on Friday as well.
The First National Bank of Omaha also said it would stop issuing its NRA-branded Visa credit cards, emblazoned with the group's logo and called "the Official Credit Card of the NRA". The institution is the largest privately-held bank in the U.S., with locations in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota.
Additional coverage on TheHill, MarketWatch, Independent and Politico.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai joined the pack at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday alongside fellow Republican commissioners Michael O'Rielly and Brendan Carr—the architects of the recent order repealing net neutrality protections passed in the Obama era.
Upon taking the stage, it was announced that Pai was receiving an award from the National Rifle Association: a handmade Kentucky long gun and plaque known as the "Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award."
https://gizmodo.com/the-nra-just-awarded-fcc-chair-ajit-pai-with-a-gun-for-1823273450
Fallout continues from the mass murder in Florida. The National Rifle Association is taking it up the wazoo. A national boycott is emerging. If you are old enough, you will remember that this is what brought down Apartheid in South Africa.
From the Huffington Post:
In what may be a pivotal moment for American gun law reform, the National Rifle Association has become the object of intense pushback from anti-gun activists and survivors of last week's mass shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 dead.
All the attention prompted the gun-rights group to break from its usual strategy of keeping quiet after mass gun deaths. NRA officials have gone on the attack to rail against the "politicization" of a tragedy, and going so far as to suggest that members of the media "love mass shootings" because of the ratings they supposedly bring.
The uproar has once again presented companies affiliated with the NRA, and its powerful pro-gun lobby, with a question: to cut ties, or to continue a relationship with a large but controversial group?
The NRA partners with dozens of businesses to spread its pro-gun message and provide discounts to its members, who number 5 million, according to the group. But this week, some companies have begun to jump ship.
Facing pressure from consumers, the First National Bank of Omaha said Thursday it would stop issuing NRA-branded Visa credit cards after its contract with the group expires. Enterprise Holdings, which operates the rental car brands Enterprise, National and Alamo, says it will end its discount program for NRA members next month, along with Avis and Budget. Hertz is out, too.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Sunday February 25 2018, @02:55PM (4 children)
Why does the NRA care about Net Neutrality? The 2nd Amendment and broadband speeds do not have anything to do with each other. Does Ajit Pai have a buddy on the board of the NRA, or is there some telecom biggie on the board who wants to give the guy a pat on the back for his service, even though the NRA has nothing to do with Net Neutrality?
It's the only thing that makes sense to me. Remember when Bush put a guy in charge of FEMA when his only previous experience was the Arabian Horse Association? This feels like that. Stuff like this really highlights how internecine the lobbies, corporations, and government in our current system are.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @03:26PM (1 child)
Well, there's that time when cryptography -- a very important aspect of modern Internet -- was declared a munition [wikipedia.org] by the US government...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @03:56PM
Somebody convince that lady who did the NRA recruitment ad to do one talking about the evils of encryption (if she hasn't already!) so that we can catch22 them :)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by nitehawk214 on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:00PM (1 child)
I came here wondering the same thing. My best guess is that it is because the NRA is a political hack organization, and the people running it don't give 2 shits about guns or the Internet. Instead they use it as a vehicle to push their political agenda.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Monday February 26 2018, @08:47AM
What many people don’t understand, or don’t want to understand, is that Wayne, Chris and the folks who work so hard at the @NRA [twitter.com] are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!