Summary: After the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School last week, many companies, such as Delta and the rental car company Hertz, have ended their contracts and stopped all forms of their connection with the NRA. None of these businesses has released the reasons behind their decisions to do so as of yet, but it likely is in protest to the current status of guns in America and how the NRA has contributed to that. Bank of America is currently not one of the companies listed to have broken connections with NRA, although it is unclear if the business has a contract with the NRA, but it has also shown support for working to stop the numerous rifle-caused injuries and deaths in America by talking to assault-weapon manufacturers about "what they can contribute to this shared responsibility." CNN held a town hall meeting last week where the teenage survivors urged for the government to ban rifles like the one used in the shooting, but the NRA claimed that the problem was not with the availability of rifles themselves, but with our "flawed background check system."
Questions:
1. What do you think businesses with connections to the NRA should do or should have done if they don't support the NRA's beliefs?
2. Do you think it was smart for these businesses to end their contracts with the NRA, even though that might mean they will lose a lot of business? In general, how should companies balance their values with good business decisions?
3. What do you find to be most at fault for our country's gun/shooting problem–weak background checks, the availability to buy assault weapons, or something else?
Links:
CNN
Washington Post
3 comments:
I think the way businesses such as Hertz and Delta have acted, is the way to go if businesses don't support the NRA's beliefs. If enough businesses "boycott" the NRA, they may be provoked to change their stance on issues such as banning assault rifles and raising the minimum age required to purchase assault rifles. To answer your second question, I do think it was a smart move for these businesses to end their contracts because currently, I feel like the majority of Americans are either disgruntled or outraged by the uncontrolled gun violence we have. Therefore, businesses that oppose the NRA may actually be seen with more favor amongst Americans, and thus their sales may even increase. Lastly, as for what is to blame regarding gun violence, I think that weak background checks are the problem. Almost all mass shooters have had some sort of mental illness, and allowing unstable people to purchase powerful weapons is not a good idea.
I don't think we can tell businesses what to do. It is really up to their political leaning, and I am sure that for each of the businesses mentioned here (Delta and Hertz), there was a lot of discussion and debate about what was right to do. There are obvious economic risks, and an economic cost-benefit analysis is needed, as well as a more social or moral debate. At the end of the day, it comes out to what the leadership of a corporation stands for. Whether or no the company believes it can influence change is also important, and in many cases, it also comes down to whether there will be positive P.R. that can recover losses that losing a direct partnership with any organization would cause. I don't think we can really project our gut opinions onto these corporations, and time will tell about whether or not the moves impacted the NRA towards change or beneficial to the companies themselves.
On the question on the weak point in our nation's gun system, I agree with Emily above. It is harder to drive than to use a gun, and driving is much more common, much more useful to the everyday person, and less lethal in terms of killing potential per one unit, but we still tolerate a lot of checks and tests to be able to drive legally. I don't think it's fair to argue the 2nd amendment because if someone is perfectly sane and knowledgeable, there is nothing about background checks that restricts their rights, it is only a small burden that people should be able to swallow without much difficulty. Background checks may help against mass shootings and crime, but it also helps with the leading cause of gun deaths, which is suicide. Perhaps those motives can somehow be tracked as well.
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