Federal Express is cutting ties with the National Rifle Association, the company announced on Tuesday, ending a discount partnership program for businesses that are members of the nation's largest gun lobby.
The $56 billion logistics giant confirmed to Reuter's BreakingViews that it will no longer offer discounts to business members of the NRA as of November 4, 2018. The company claimed the NRA didn't bring in enough business to justify continuing the arrangement.
The move "suggests the NRA no longer has the economic clout to inspire fear in the corporate world," John Foley of BreakingViews reported on Tuesday.
Twitter exploded with gun control advocates voicing their excitement over FedEx's decision.
Parkland student survivor David Hogg thanked FedEx for "ending its relationship with the NRA."
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, said he felt "overwhelmed that they have decided to finally" drop their partnership with the NRA.
Igor Volsky, the Executive Director of Guns Down, a gun control non-profit, tweeted that the announcement from FedEx heralds a decline in the NRA's power.
Actor and activist John Leguizamo said he's going to "FedEx all day long."
Activist Shannon Watts also lauded the news.
"The tides are turning." It sure seems that way. Twitter flooded with happy reactions.
FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey said in a statement to ThinkProgress on Tuesday that the decision had any specific event and that it is part of a larger internal policy shift which will affect FedEx's relationships with more than 100 companies.
“We are transitioning some account holders in more than 100 organizations in the FedEx Marketing Alliance program to other pricing programs,” McCluskey said. “Account holders that participated in the program will continue to receive the same discounts on FedEx shipping, and we will work directly with these customers to ensure a seamless transition.”
The decision comes three days after a gunman murdered 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue, and represents a stark contrast from FedEx's prior refusal to cut ties with the NRA after the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead.
Public demands that FedEx sever ties with the NRA in the wake of the Parkland shooting were met with resistance from the company itself even as numerous other major brands dropped their NRA discount programs.
“FedEx has never provided any donation or sponsorship to the NRA which is one of hundreds of alliance and association participants that serve more than one million customers,” FedEx said in a statement at the time.
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