Good News: Firearm dealers removed from FDIC “high risk” category

This was one of the Obama administration’s attacks on the firearm industry bypassing the normal legislative process. In-other-words, President Obama used his phone and pen to tell the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation (FDIC) to put firearm dealers on a list of “high risk” businesses banks should avoid. Banking is heavily regulated by the federal government, and if banks wanted to stay “in good graces” with the feds, they were told they should “avoid those high risk businesses” or … well, you may have problems in the future.

So Obama put a virtual gun to the head of banks, and the banks responded. From The Washington Times, with my emphasis.

Since 2011, regulators have increased scrutiny on banks’ customers. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2011 urged banks to better manage the risks of their merchant customers who employ payment processors, such as PayPal, for credit card transactions. The FDIC listed gun retailers as “high risk” along with porn stores and drug paraphernalia shops.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has launched Operation Choke Point, a credit card fraud probe focusing on banks and payment processors. The threat of enforcement has prompted some banks to cut ties with online gun retailers, even if those companies have valid licenses and good credit histories.

Many firearm dealers across the country had their accounts canceled and were provided only days to find other banking partners.

In 2012, Bank of America suddenly dropped the 12-year account of McMillan Group International, a gun manufacturer in Phoenix, even though the company had a good credit history, the owner said. Gun parts maker American Spirit Arms in Scottsdale, Arizona, received similar treatment by Bank of America, the country’s largest banking institution. …

After McMillan Group owner Kelly McMillan publicized Bank of America’s action on his Facebook account, he found that thousands of small gun-shop owners across the country were in the same situation. Banks were either dropping them, freezing their accounts or refusing to process their online sales, so he opened a credit card processing company for the gun industry called McMillan Merchant Solutions.

That’s an example of a pen and phone in the hands of a tyrant.

Thankfully, firearm dealers are now off the list. An update from The Washington Times today.

Gun retailers are no longer on a hit list deemed “high risk” by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after the banking regulator formally withdrew Monday the list it put together that outlined what merchants may be considered risky for banks to do business with as part of the Obama administration’s “Operation Choke Point.”
The agency said its explanatory warning list “led to misunderstandings” about how it’s supervising banks’ ties to third-party payment providers, according to Bloomberg News.

The regulator said it never meant to prevent banks from doing financial transactions with the types of businesses on the list.

What a load of bull crap. This is exactly what the Obama administration wanted to do. They wanted to send a message making it clear they are the tyrants in charge and with a phone call and a pen, they can make the lives of legitimate business people across the country a nightmare. A pure power play, and as a bonus they made the anti-gun groups smile.

Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

5 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on July 29, 2014 at 9:38 am

    To a similar end, you should see how the Deval Patrick (Obama’s mini me) administration in MA is slow walking gun permit applications through the system. No doubt making it harder to get ammo, buy guns, and increase the chance that you will be outside your permit range, increasing your chance of needing a gun and either being unable to use it, or breaking the law.

    It is all about that iron fisted government going after the wrong people.



  2. bien-pensant on July 29, 2014 at 6:10 pm

    Capricious and malicious pretty much describes the Obama regime.
    With these people, it is all about control and the wielding of power.
    *******
    I wonder if behind the scenes some group, like the NRA, threatened to sue Obama, et al?
    Hmmmmmm…



  3. Vizionmusic on July 29, 2014 at 6:17 pm

    We have become a nation of ‘whimps’…… And because the ‘baby-boomers’ ( of which I’m sorry to say I’m one ) have raised a generation of ‘idiots’ who’s children and grandchildren have been ‘indoctrinated’ by the socialist/progressive/liberals…. it is TOO LATE folks…
    Ta Da America because MOST of you wouldn’t lift a finger to FIGHT for her!



  4. Lynn on July 30, 2014 at 10:30 am

    ” If I were King of the Forest”, Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. My addition, I would shut all businesses, (especially those who make evil guns that shoot people all on their own,)so all would be employed by the state. As for the shovel ready jobs, the Cowardly Lion said we have, we do The Keystone Pipeline, but he has deemed that unfit.



  5. JasonSimms on August 7, 2014 at 12:51 pm

    Well, this is an age-old and probably one of oldest disputes ever to take place in the global corporate world. I am glad that ultimately it has been proven that the government was wrongfully targeting the firearm industry. Personally, I am of the opinion that all legal and licensed merchants should be given the right to have merchant accounts, use credit card processing services and accept online payments from their customers. It is highly satisfying to know that all firearm dealers have been removed from FDIC?s high risk category. A welcome step!



frontpg-king-obama

The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.