Corporations abandoning their N.R.A. member discounts.

First National Bank issued N.R.A. credit cards. No longer.

Enterprise and Alamo gave N.R.A. member discounts. No longer.

Is there an organized effort going on besides calling each organization and saying I don’t agree with your discounts to NRA members? I would like to be a part of it, if there is one. 

It's essentially 'gone viral', so most of the companies you might have interfaced with have likely already gotten rid of their NRA discounts. (Most of them were announced today).

h4daniel said:

Is there an organized effort going on besides calling each organization and saying I don’t agree with your discounts to NRA members? I would like to be a part of it, if there is one. 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-boycott/enterprise-to-end-discounts-for-nra-members-on-three-of-its-brands-idUSKCN1G71OX

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/symantec-ends-nra-membership-deals-after-backlash/ar-BBJv1er

updated

FedEx is out.

If these companies aren't afraid of any backlash from NRA members, this should be a message to cowardly politicians who are afraid of them.

nohero said:

If these companies aren't afraid of any backlash from NRA members, this should be a message to cowardly politicians who are afraid of them.

Unfortunately this makes no sense.  Politicians aren't afraid of the NRA, they are afraid of losing the money the NRA gives them.  The companies get relatively little real benefit from their deals with the NRA.  

FilmCarp said:

nohero said:

If these companies aren't afraid of any backlash from NRA members, this should be a message to cowardly politicians who are afraid of them.

Unfortunately this makes no sense.  Politicians aren't afraid of the NRA, they are afraid of losing the money the NRA gives them.  The companies get relatively little real benefit from their deals with the NRA.  

No, I think it's not just the money.  They are also afraid of the voters who follow the NRA talking points.

nohero said:

FilmCarp said:

nohero said:

If these companies aren't afraid of any backlash from NRA members, this should be a message to cowardly politicians who are afraid of them.

Unfortunately this makes no sense.  Politicians aren't afraid of the NRA, they are afraid of losing the money the NRA gives them.  The companies get relatively little real benefit from their deals with the NRA.  

No, I think it's not just the money.  They are also afraid of the voters who follow the NRA talking points.

Actually, both.

If there was no money there would be no influence.

NRA members are renowned for being one of the most motivated voter blocs in the country. Lots of interest groups spend a lot more money than the NRA on elections. No one gets their voters out like the NRA.

Like formerlyjj says - it's both. That's why they've had their way with the United States for the last 20 years.

FilmCarp said:

If there was no money there would be no influence.

drummerboy said:

NRA members are renowned for being one of the most motivated voter blocs in the country. Lots of interest groups spend a lot more money than the NRA on elections. No one gets their voters out like the NRA.

Like formerlyjj says - it's both. That's why they've had their way with the United States for the last 20 years.

FilmCarp said:

If there was no money there would be no influence.

Numbers vary by source, but the NRA has somewhere between 5 and 14 million members.  Assuming that the number 14,000,000 was correct, and assuming that each and every one was a registered voter and showed up to the polls each and every election, they still wouldn't come close to being able to override the votes of the rest of the voting population.  There are over 200,000,000 registered voters in the US (2016), so 14,000,000 (again, assuming the higher end of the membership rolls AND that each and every member is a registered voter AND that they always vote) wouldn't have as much pull as you would be led to think.  I'm going with their money having more pull with the politicians than their membership does at the polls.

Well, you're talking about it as if there were a national vote where the majority counts, but we don't live in that world. Trump won the electoral college by a little more than 100k votes across 3 states, despite losing the popular vote by 3 million.

Also, state and local elections are kind of important too.

So none of your numbers are actually pertinent.

If anything, the monetary clout of the NRA is what's overstated. There are plenty of interest groups that spend more on elections than the NRA. The NRA spent about 200 million on election contributions over the last 20 years.  That's chickenfeed.

Many think that the NRA's influence is wildly overstated anyway.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/237219-explainer-how-much-does-nra-influence-elections/

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/nra-money-isnt-why-gun-control-efforts-are-failing-commentary.html

spontaneous said:

drummerboy said:

NRA members are renowned for being one of the most motivated voter blocs in the country. Lots of interest groups spend a lot more money than the NRA on elections. No one gets their voters out like the NRA.

Like formerlyjj says - it's both. That's why they've had their way with the United States for the last 20 years.

FilmCarp said:

If there was no money there would be no influence.

Numbers vary by source, but the NRA has somewhere between 5 and 14 million members.  Assuming that the number 14,000,000 was correct, and assuming that each and every one was a registered voter and showed up to the polls each and every election, they still wouldn't come close to being able to override the votes of the rest of the voting population.  There are over 200,000,000 registered voters in the US (2016), so 14,000,000 (again, assuming the higher end of the membership rolls AND that each and every member is a registered voter AND that they always vote) wouldn't have as much pull as you would be led to think.  I'm going with their money having more pull with the politicians than their membership does at the polls.

The NRA wields out-sized electoral influence because they can bring their vote to bear in increasingly gerrymandered Republican safe or leaning districts.  It's not like they are trying to unseat a representative from our area.

This sounds like it should be true, but I wonder if there's any data that actually supports it? I dunno.

In any case, the problem here is gerrymandering - not the NRA.

tjohn said:

The NRA wields out-sized electoral influence because they can bring their vote to bear in increasingly gerrymandered Republican safe or leaning districts.  It's not like they are trying to unseat a representative from our area.

drummerboy said:

This sounds like it should be true, but I wonder if there's any data that actually supports it? I dunno.

In any case, the problem here is gerrymandering - not the NRA.

tjohn said:

The NRA wields out-sized electoral influence because they can bring their vote to bear in increasingly gerrymandered Republican safe or leaning districts.  It's not like they are trying to unseat a representative from our area.

Again, it's both. The Districts are drawn in such a way that the only contest a Congressperson has to worry about is a Primary. Pro-gun voters can have outsized influence in a Republican Primary which has to pull a Congressperson or a candidate for Congress toward their position. If a District is balanced so that the General Election is seriously contested a Republican Candidate is forced to appeal to moderates, Independents, even some Democratic-leaning voters.

I am going to use Google to try and find Leonard Lance's position.

https://lance.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lance-lift-the-federal-ban-on-gun-violence-research

Wishy-washy but very contrary to the NRA's position. Further note the mention of Obama. How many Congress people in safe Republican Districts would tout sponsoring a Bill signed by Obama?

A letter to the editor in today's Ledger indicates Lance's 97% approval rating from N.R.A.  This is about right given his prior votes to support gun humping. He recently "got religion" based on public reaction to mass shootings.

It is difficult to get N.R.A. ratings unless you are a member.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

A letter to the editor in today's Ledger indicates Lance's 97% approval rating from N.R.A.  This is about right given his prior votes to support gun humping. He recently "got religion" based on public reaction to mass shootings.




It is difficult to get N.R.A. ratings unless you are a member.

Talk for show. Vote for dough.

Cool

Feeling ignorant. I had no idea so many companies had special rates for NRA members.

zucca said:

Feeling ignorant. I had no idea so many companies had special rates for NRA members.

Many companies offer discounts to members of different clubs and organizations.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

zucca said:

Feeling ignorant. I had no idea so many companies had special rates for NRA members.

Many companies offer discounts to members of different clubs and organizations.

I guess I'd better join something.

I saw today that the Georgia legislature voted to take away a significant tax break from Delta Airlines (HQ in Atlanta) because they eliminated their NRA discounts.  

sac said:

I saw today that the Georgia legislature voted to take away a significant tax break from Delta Airlines (HQ in Atlanta) because they eliminated their NRA discounts.  

Wild, as the legislature is deciding to take away a tax break to spite a private company, that creates jobs in the state, because they have decided to discontinue a discount for a club? I'd love to see Delta pick up and move. As Joe Scarborough points out, CT hassled GE, so they picked up and moved out of state. Plenty of states would welcome Delta. 

Morganna said:

sac said:

I saw today that the Georgia legislature voted to take away a significant tax break from Delta Airlines (HQ in Atlanta) because they eliminated their NRA discounts.  

Wild, as the legislature is deciding to take away a tax break to spite a private company, that creates jobs in the state, because they have decided to discontinue a discount for a club? I'd love to see Delta pick up and move. As Joe Scarborough points out, CT hassled GE, so they picked up and moved out of state. Plenty of states would welcome Delta. 

While it's not a done deal, it looks like it will happen. But from this article:

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/28/news/companies/delta-tax-break-update/index.html

Delta, headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the state's largest employers. Democrats in other states took the opportunity to invite the airline to do business with them instead.

"Virginia is for lovers and airline hubs," Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said on Twitter. "You're welcome here any time."