Last week I closed my account at Wells Fargo. I hadn’t actually planned to keep it open anyway, since I usually bank at credit unions and had only opened it to send a wire to Romania. But if it wasn’t for Parkland, and my friend George, and his friend Ed, I probably would have just left it open and forgotten about it. I did close it though, and in the process had a fundamentally interesting conversation with my bank rep who I’m going to call Zeke so I don’t get him in trouble.

Zeke is a cool guy. He has a cat, and neat desk toys that you can play with while doing paperwork to open or close your account. I’d chatted with him when I opened the account, whose purpose was to pay Geri a part of what she was owed when I unwittingly helped a con artist to get her to do free work — but that’s another story. The thing is I knew Zeke, so I couldn’t just go in and get on my high horse about how Wells Fargo is in bed with the NRA and the gun lobby and I want nothing to do with them, and how I’m helping organize a boycott against them. Which I am.

So after a bit of small talk, I mentioned that one of the reasons I wanted to close it, was because of how Wells Fargo supports the NRA. And Zeke’s reaction was interesting, because he is not at all a knee-jerk corporate type. He explained how he chose to work there because they have a good diversity score, and how they had a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign, and he consciously chose them as a positive company.

Now I know Wells Fargo cares about its image. Not only does it sponsor all these cool ads about cultures everywhere, and has a bunch of strong-sounding values statements on its website, but it even shuts up reporters who say anything negative. For example, reporter Shahien Nasiripour of Bloomburg reported about the bank’s close relationship with gun manufacturers — and the next thing he knew, he’d been pushed off the banking beat after a phone call from Wells Fargo’s CEO.

Thing is, it’s not enough to recognize in a web statement “that governments have the duty to protect human rights, and our company has a responsibility to respect human rights” and then give member discounts to an organization actively trying to prevent the government from exercising its duty. Long time past, the National Rifle Association was actually an organization that promoted gun safety — it even helped author and support the Gun Control Act of 1938.

But what used to be an organization promoting responsible gun ownership, marksmanship and yes, hunting, has been overtaken by hardliners and moneyed interests to the point of insanity, opposing any discussion of gun safety regulations or even research into gun related deaths. Responsible, thoughtful gun owners repudiate the NRA’s absolutist agenda and incitement to violence. Other companies from the First National Bank of Omaha to Hertz have cut ties with the NRA.

Wells Fargo turns a deaf ear not only to gun violence survivors, but to the onslaught of attacks on them. NRA board member Ted Nugent said that the Parkland teens “have no soul”. If the CEO of Wells Fargo could pick up the phone and tell Bloomberg to reassign Nasiripour for his reporting, why couldn’t he pick up the phone and tell the NRA to push Nugent off the board for his vicious attacks on teenagers? Surely Wells Fargo has some leverage on the NRA with their close and special relationship — or are they the ones on a leash?