You gotta be kidding me. The NRA crying like a baby?
Yes, the NRA is crying foul over the loss of discounts offered to its members from several fortune five hundred companies.
The discontinuation of corporate discounts to NRA members comes in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre this month.
This action stems from the NRA’s refusal to soften its stance against the easy possession of assault weapons like the AR-15.
Wait a minute, the tough talking paragon of gun ownership is crying like a baby?
This, in and of itself would be newsworthy. Cry babies after all the bluster about guns? Who would have thought it?
However, when the NRA cries foul less than a week after losing incentives the NRA offers its membership; it evidences that the NRA is not too big to fail.
Some of the companies dropping their sponsorship of the gun lobbyist are First National Bank of Omaha, the rental car giant Hertz, insurers Chubb and MetLife, along with Delta Airlines and United Airlines. They have pulled the plug on incentives that the NRA can offer its members.
The NRA responded to the loss of these incentives by labeling their former sponsors as “political and civic cowards.”
This response is not unexpected given the tenor of the assault weapon debate coming out of their national convention this week. But to respond within two days of the discontinuation of these incentives is significant.
A dime will get you a dollar that if the loss of these incentives were not an important part of the NRA’s membership package, their response would not have been as swift and as strong.
Additionally, it signals that there is more than one way to neutralize the influence of the chief gun lobby in the country. It means there are major corporations in the nation fed up with the lack of protection that the government is giving to consumers, corporate employees and their families.
When the captains of industry and trade stand up to bully lobbyists like the NRA, it gives cover to ordinary citizens to rise up against them as well. This I believe is the real fear of the National Rifle Association and the cause for their angst over the loss of corporate incentives they can no longer offer to encourage membership in their organization.
This tells us how strong they really are, even the mighty National Rifle Association will crack under intense public pressure. This is a small, yet significant crack. As Muhammad Ali once said, “You have to chop a tree down one punch at a time.”
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist. He is a Contributor at The Hill, SCLC National Magazine, Southern Changes Magazine and Black College Nines. He can be contacted at hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com
Michael, good news. As of yesterday @Emma4Change (the young Latina Emma González with the buzz haircut) has more followers on Twitter than @NRA. This happened in less than two weeks. And you said it: This is ALL about money. We must always recognize that any group of people that would sacrifice their own young would do harm to the entire planet. That thought never leaves my head.
That’s a frighten thought. Good for Emma. She is one of my new heroes. I love her spunk.