BY Herschel Smith

2 years, 5 months ago

The Hill:

A Bank of America executive announced Tuesday that the bank will stop lending money to companies that manufacture “military-style” rifles that are available for civilians to purchase. Anne Finucane, Bank of America’s vice chair, told Bloomberg TV that the bank doesn’t want to “underwrite or finance military-style firearms” and has told a number of gun manufacturers that it will no longer do business with them. The bank has lended to the gun makers Vista Outdoor, Remington and Sturm Ruger, CNBC reported. Bank of America had said that after the shooting in Parkland, Fla., in mid-February it was exploring ways it could contribute to stemming gun violence. The confessed gunman in that shooting used an AR-15-style rifle. “These are clients we have enjoyed a relationship with,” Finucane said. “There are those I think will reduce their portfolios and we’ll work with them and others that will choose to do something else.” Asked if Bank of America would stop doing business with retailers that sell assault weapons, Finucane said that would involve complicated issues dealing with civil liberties and the Second Amendment. “That’s a good public dialogue, but that’s a ways off,” she said. Finucane said that reaction from gun manufacturers to Bank of America’s decision has been mixed.

“Reduce their portfolios.” That’s what the progressives at BoA want gun makers to do. Reduce their portfolios. Gun control by fiat via decisions in the banking industry. Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear at some point that the FedGov was involved in meetings with BoA to encourage this decision.

Also take note that the notion of stopping business with retailers who do not comply deserves a “public dialogue,” and is “a ways off.” In other words, it’s a step in the works but needs more time to ferment. And it was two days ago I said this.

Now let’s turn to gun manufacturers. Suppose that Ruger needs to spend $500,000 buying to tooling to replace old and worn tooling machinery, or to retool a line to fabricate a new product. Suppose that none of the banks will do business with Ruger. How does Ruger pay for the tooling machinery? They can’t go through the bank. They can’t hand cash to the machinery manufacturer – their accountant would reject it as making them look like they’re doing business with Iran. No bank in their right mind will allow a company to deposit $500,000 cash without knowing where it came from.

I know accountants. I maintain that no accountant can deposit a million dollars in cash with a bank teller. It just doesn’t happen. No, I’m not talking about drug deals in Florida or Texas or whatever other exception you can find. I’m talking about people who pay their taxes, want to stay in business, and have to make it work with banks in order to stay above board.

This will prove to be very difficult for gun manufacturers to deal with. And I maintain that this is just one step in the coming festivities over the next couple of years. There will be further controls over gun owners as well. You mark my words on that, whether at the local, state or federal level. Bump stocks won’t be the last you hear of gun control by the Trump administration, all endorsed and given cover by the NRA.