BBC:– Several US companies have cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA) amid calls for a boycott of businesses linked to the powerful gun lobby in the wake of the Florida school shooting.
The firms include car rental giants Hertz and Enterprise, which had offered discounts for NRA members.
The murder of 17 people has prompted renewed calls for tighter gun controls.
Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott has backed calls to raise the minimum age for buying a gun from 18 to 21.
Mr Scott has been widely seen as an ally of the NRA who has previously opposed stricter laws in the state. However, he has come under mounting pressure to respond to the demands of students who survived the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Activists have tried to put pressure on the NRA since the shooting by targeting firms that offer discounts and other benefits to its members.
They have flooded its corporate partners with comments on social media under the hashtag #BoycottNRA. Firms under pressure include delivery company FedEx and tech giants such as Amazon, which distributes NRA television programmes.
Enterprise Holdings, which owns the rental car brands Alamo, Enterprise and National, also said discounts offered to NRA members would end on 26 March.
The firm, which announced the move in response to comments on Twitter, declined to say why it had taken such a step but told a customer that the firm doesn’t “sponsor, endorse or take a political stance on any organizations.”
Other companies distanced themselves from the NRA on Friday.
Those included MetLife Insurance, the Avis Budget Group, home security firm Simplisafe, two moving brands – Allied Van Lines and northAmerican Van Lines– and Symantec Corp which had offered discounts for its LifeLock identity theft product.
Insurance firm Chubb also said it had stopped underwriting an NRA-branded insurance policy three months ago.
In Florida, the president of the Florida Education Association, which represents teachers’ unions, also called on the state to look at pension holdings in gun companies in a statement to the Miami Herald newspaper.
However other companies continue to offer discounts to NRA members. On its website, the NRA says US airlines Delta and United are offering special flight discounts to NRA members travelling to Dallas for the organisation’s annual meeting in May.
The NRA, which claims five million members, did not respond to a request for comment about the effect of the boycott.
The group defended itself in comments on Twitter, saying people upset about the shooting should focus on lapses by law enforcement.
“Instead of placing the blame on an organization that defends everyone’s #2A rights, maybe people should take a hard look at the number of failures by the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, or does that not fit your agenda?” it wrote, referring to the constitutional amendment that protects gun rights.