The Latest on companies cutting ties with the NRA (all times Eastern):
2:15 p.m.
Walmart Inc., the world’s largest retailer, says it’s not currently changing its policies related to gun purchases, but it says it already has a rigorous background check for buyers.
The company stopped selling AR-15 rifles and other semi-automatic weapons back in 2015 because of sluggish demand.
The AR-15 was used in the Parkland, Florida massacre that killed 17 people earlier this month.
Walmart also does not sell bump stocks, the accessory that’s attached to a semi-automatic gun, which makes it easier to fire rounds faster. It also does not sell large capacity magazines.
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10:50 a.m.
Hearing aid maker Starkey Hearing Technologies is joining other companies that have cut ties with the National Rifle Association after the latest school massacre.
The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, company announced the decision over the weekend, saying it would not renew its discount program offered to NRA members.
U.S. corporations that had partnered with the NRA for years began to distance themselves from the organization after 17 people, mostly students, were shot at a high school in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14.
Nearly 20 companies, including Metlife, Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Best Western, Wyndham, United Airlines, and Delta, have ended NRA partnerships since the shooting.
The NRA has pushed back aggressively, calling the departure of its corporate partners a “shameful display of political and civic cowardice.”
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