FedEx Goes Against Current of Companies Cutting Ties with NRA

By Mairead McArdle

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Companies that provide special rates to members of the National Rifle Association have fallen like dominoes under the pressure of recent social media campaigns urging them to cut ties with the group.

FedEx, however, has cited nondiscrimination in defense of its business with the NRA.

The mailing company has resisted the pressure to distance itself, saying “FedEx has never set or changed rates for any of our millions of customers around the world in response to their politics, beliefs or positions on issues.”

Survivor David Hogg called out FedEx on Twitter, urging companies to boycott the mail service until it cuts ties with the NRA.

FedEx did outline its corporate view on gun ownership:

FedEx Corporation’s positions on the issues of gun policy and safety differ from those of the National Rifle Association (NRA). FedEx opposes assault rifles being in the hands of civilians. While we strongly support the constitutional right of U.S. citizens to own firearms subject to appropriate background checks, FedEx views assault rifles and large capacity magazines as an inherent potential danger to schools, workplaces, and communities when such weapons are misused. We therefore support restricting them to the military. Most important, FedEx believes urgent action is required at the local, state, and Federal level to protect schools and students from incidents such as the horrific tragedy in Florida on February 14th.

The company added that the NRA is one of hundreds of companies that receive discounts and will remain so.

Companies that have cut ties include Delta Air Lines, United Airlines,Enterprise Holdings, Hertz, Avis and Budget, Symantec, TrueCar, MetLife, SimpliSafe, and the First National Bank of Omaha.

The NRA criticized the companies’ “shameful display of political and civic cowardice.”

“The loss of a discount will neither scare nor distract one single NRA member from our mission to stand and defend the individual freedoms that have always made America the greatest nation in the world,” a statement from the group read.