Airlines drop NRA after shooting

New York : Delta Air Lines and United Airlines on Saturday became the latest major corporations to sever marketing ties with the National Rifle Association as the fallout from last week’s massacre at a Florida high school took its toll on the gun advocacy group.

The exodus of corporate names, ranging from a major insurer to car rental brands and a household moving company, began after the NRA launched a counter-offensive against a student-led campaign for tighter U.S. gun laws.

The NRA responded by saying its members were being punished, but would not be intimidated, by what it called “a shameful display of political and civic cowardice” from some corporations.

In tweets on Saturday, Delta and United said they were no longer offering NRA members discounted rates and they would ask the NRA to remove their information from its website.

The issue of gun control, and the NRA’s role in opposing it, became the focus of renewed national debate after a former student killed 17 people on Feb. 14 at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland, using an AR-15 assault rifle he had purchased legally.