First National Bank of Omaha said Thursday it won’t renew a contract with the National Rifle Association to offer an NRA-branded Visa credit card after receiving complaints from customers amid an intensifying national debate on gun control.
“Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA,” the bank said in a post on its Twitter account. “As a result, First National Bank of Omaha will not renew its contract with the National Rifle Association to issue the NRA Visa card.”
A bank spokesman did not return messages seeking comment.
An NRA blog touts the card’s benefits, including “5% back on gas and sporting goods stores purchases, meaning every time you pack up and head out on a hunt or to the range…. you’re putting money back in your pocket.”
The decision comes amid a furious debate on gun control after a gunman killed 17 people, mostly students, at a high school in Parkland, Fla., last week. Angry parents and surviving students confronted an NRA spokeswoman at a televised forum Wednesday night as they pushed for a ban on assault rifles.
On Thursday, Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president and CEO, told the Conservative Political Action Conference, “As usual, the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for gain.” He added that gun-control advocates and the media “hate the NRA, they hate the Second Amendment, they hate individual freedom.”
