FedEx ended a discount program for NRA members after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting due to the gun lobby’s declining economic clout.
John Foley wrote in an opinion piece on Reuters:
FedEx, the U.S. shipping group, is ending a program that offers discounts for business members of the National Rifle Association, the company confirmed to Breakingviews.
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The change of tack comes just days after a gunman killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue. The $56 billion logistics company says the closure of its NRA discount program from Nov. 4 has no connection to that incident or any other shooting. Rather, the NRA just didn’t bring in enough business to merit its own deal. It’s among dozens of organizations FedEx plans to move to new pricing programs, and the company has been notifying customers since early October.
The NRA Is Crumbling
The facade of the NRA is crumbling. They are no longer the fearsome organization that was capable of bullying a nation. For the first time in 20 years, gun control groups have raised more money than the NRA during the midterm election. The group is under FBI investigation for potentially laundering Russian money to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and the Parkland students willingness to take on the gun industry lobby left them exposed and weakened in a way that has not been seen since their rise to national political prominence.
The NRA’s era of outsized political influence feels like it is coming to an end. The group still has enough money to buy a stranglehold on Republicans in Congress, but just like Trump, their sphere of influence is shrinking to a small base of people.
The public reaction to mass shootings is taking an economic toll on the gun lobby. FedEx dumped the NRA because they don’t bring in enough business to be worth the hassle. The NRA is a dinosaur in decline and Trump’s presidency could go down in history as their extinction event.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
