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GAINESVILLE, Georgia – As Gary Ramey's fledgling firearm manufacturing company takes off in retail stores, he decides to start offering one of his handguns for sale on his website.
This did not suit the company with which he was processing the payments, and they informed him that they were dropping his account. Another credit card company told him the same thing: they would not do business with him.
The reason? His firearms manufacturing business violates their policies.
As a result of large-scale mass shootings, US companies have taken a stand against the gun industry due to a lack of law enforcement action on gun control fire. Payment processors restrict transactions, Bank of America has stopped providing funding to companies that manufacture AR weapons, and retailers such as Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods have imposed age restrictions on gun purchases.
Movements are hailed by gun safety advocates but criticized by the firearms industry as a devious way to undermine the second amendment. Gun industry leaders see the reaction as a real threat to their industry and come to the conclusion that they need additional protections in Congress to prevent banks from making financial retaliation.
"If some banks say" No, we will not give loans to arms dealers or arms manufacturers ", all of a sudden the industry is threatened and the second amendment does not mean much if there are no weapons, "said Michael Hammond, legal advisor to Gun Owners of America. "If you can not make weapons, if you can not sell guns, the second amendment does not mean much."
The question has already attracted the attention of the Republican who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho sent letters criticizing Bank of America and Citigroup, who decided to restrict firearm sales by his business clients, about their new rules on firearms.
"We should all be concerned if banks like yours are trying to replace lawmakers and policy makers and try to manage social policy by limiting access to credit," writes Crapo to Citigroup's managing director.
Honor Defense is a small company with a handful of employees who include Ramey's son and his wife who are working in an unnamed building in an office park in Georgia north of Atlanta. In 2016, his first year, he sold 7,500 firearms. Its products – handcrafted 9mm handguns of various colors – can now be found in more than 1,000 stores.
When Ramey noticed that neither Stripe nor Intuit would process the payments through his site, he filed a complaint with the Georgia Attorney General's office, relying on a state law prohibiting discrimination by financial services firms. But the state rejected it, saying that credit card processing is not considered a financial service under state law.
He sees the issue of credit cards as companies that "infuse politics into business".
"We are just a small company trying to survive here," said Ramey. "It's pretty hard to compete with Smith & Wesson, Ruger and Sig Sauer."
Shares of the financial industry came amid a wider retreat from US companies following the Florida shot. Delta and United Airlines have stopped offering discounted rates to members of the NRA, as have the car rental companies Hertz, Alamo and National. First National Bank of Omaha, one of the largest private banks in the country, decided not to renew a co-branded Visa credit card with the NRA.
Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods decided that they would no longer sell assault weapons or firearms to people under 21 years of age. REI, an outdoor equipment store that does not sell firearms, has decided to stop selling protective eyewear, water bottles and bicycle helmets made by companies whose parent company, Vista Outdoor, manufactures ammunition and AR type shoulder guns.
There has been an election year by some lawmakers, particularly in Georgia where Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, who is running for governor, has decided to remove the tax break on jet fuel to punish Delta for its NRA acts. The move costs the airline about $ 40 million.
Advocates of arms control have applauded the efforts, claiming that he is showing responsible leadership in this period of paralysis within the government. Experts say this is a sign that the business world considers that the debate over guns is not at all risky – and, in fact, potentially beneficial for their brand.
"Companies usually avoid these problems like the plague and they only involve – whether they're credit card companies or airlines – when they feel like doing nothing is also bad to do something and that they feel completely stuck. "D. Lytton, Professor at the Law School of the State University of Georgia and author of" Suing the Gun Industry: a battle at the crossroads of gun control and mass crime. "
The firearms industry recognizes that there is nothing that forces companies to do business with gun manufacturers or dealers. The monthly reports from the federal government show that firearms purchase background checks have increased compared to last year, so the first measures apparently have not reduces sales.
Yet, the industry believes that it needs stronger laws against financial retaliation in the future.
"We may need to seek legislation to ensure that this can not be done and that you can not discriminate against individuals against the legitimate exercise of a constitutional right," said Larry Keane, vice-president of President and Legal Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. , which represents the manufacturers of weapons. Imagine if the banks said that you could not buy books or that some books are not acceptable, which would be problematic and I do not think anyone would defend this kind of activity from the banking sector .
– Lisa Maria Pane, Associated Press
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