(Newswire.net— September 4, 2019) — Walmart, America’s largest arms retailers, as well as other corporations, are increasingly being drawn in to the gun and personal security debate, Reuters reports. That company, like its competitors Fred Meyer and Dick’s Sporting Goods, has already discontinued the sale of automatic rifles and increased the required age of customers to 21 years.
The Bank of America announced April 10 that it planned to stop lending funds to manufacturers of assault-style firearms that are sold for nonmilitary use. More US banks said last year they would no longer credit companies that produce civilian weapons, while two major Airline companies in the U.S. Delta and United Airlines said they would no longer give discounts to the National Weapons Association. After a call to boycott the lobbying group became a top trend on Twitter, two major US airliners broke off their ties with the NRA.
The five million-member NRA has partnerships with dozens of businesses, ranging from car rentals to hotels, and even offers a branded credit card. The First National Bank of Omaha, which backs the card, said it would not renew its contract, The NY Times reports.
AVIS and BUDGET car rental groups have discontinued their discounts for NRA members as of March 26, La Times reorts.
Some companies, however, decided to continue supporting the NRA such as HotelPlaner.com. “Our company provides discounted rooms to several large associations, including the NRA,” said Tim Hentschel, co-founder of Hotel Planner. He explained, however, that the group might face penalties by hotels if not using rooms and NRA members are frequent guests because of the discount.
While the NRA is under attack, the gun industry is facing some blowback of its own, the NY Times reports. Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, supports rising the required purchasing age to 21 and encourages courts to prohibit the mentally ill from purchasing firearms.
The backlash against the firearms industry has led stock prices of arms manufacturers to fall. American Outdoor Brands dropped 6.9 percent this week, Sturm Ruger was down 1 percent and Vista Outdoor fell almost 9 percent.
“There are some very significant problems with the NRA right now, financially, structurally, strategically, that need to be addressed,” said Rob Pincus, a lifetime NRA member, fearing that the NRA is losing its political strength in Washington. Many Republicans believe that powerful anti-arms lobbyists would rather see the NRA on its knees.