It appears that the gun control advocates have found a new way to strike at gun stores. Several gun stores have noted trouble processing credit card transactions. Early last year Bank of America caused some headaches for firearms manufacturer McMillian:
Bank of America is alleged to have advised McMillan Fiberglass Stocks that, because it now manufactures firearms, its business is no longer welcome. The bank has denied the allegation. It’s quickly becoming a case of “he said/he said,” with some gun owners expressing skepticism, others accepting the report as true.
Last week a Tennessee gun dealer said they were also having problems with their credit card processor:
A Williamson County gun dealer recently learned a credit card processing company no longer wants to do business with him.
“We go through all the hoops and all the steps and at the end of the day it’s still a struggle to get the same services anybody else would,” said Nick McMillan.
Whether these previous issues have been due to pressure from gun control groups is unknown but Rahm Emanuel, the new kind of Chicago, is openly urging banks to cease doing business with members of the firearms industry:
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, moving to take a lead role in the gun control debate, is turning up the pressure on banks that do business with firearms manufacturers.
Emanuel is sending letters to two major financial institutions, TD Bank and Bank of America, which offer lines of credit to gun makers suggesting that they stop lending money to the manufacturers if they don’t come out for new gun restrictions.
“TD Bank currently aids the gun manufacturing industry through a $60 million revolving line of credit with Smith & Wesson, a gun manufacturer that produces the AR-15 — an assault weapon that was used by James Holmes to kill 12 people and wound 58 in a crowded movie theatre in Aurora,” Emanuel’s missive to TD CEO Bharat Masrani states. “I ask you to use your influence to push this company to find common ground with the vast majority of Americans who support a military weapons and ammunition ban and comprehensive background checks.”
Perhaps it’s time for the firearms industry to create a mutual aid organization specifically aimed at providing financial assistance to fellows in the firearms industry. If you read about the history of mutual aid you’ll learn that groups that were unable to get financial assistances from established banks would pool their resources for the purpose of creating their own system of financial assistance. The state has very strong ties with the banking industry and those ties are a weak point between the firearms industry and capital loans. Rahm is trying to exploit these ties now and it would be wise for firearms manufacturers to create a backup plan. The less dependent the firearms industry is one state control industries the better.
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