USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “Citigroup is setting restrictions on the sale of firearms by its business customers, making it the first Wall Street bank to take a stance in the divisive nationwide gun control debate,” The New York Times is reporting. “The new policy, announced Thursday, prohibits the sale of firearms to customers who have not passed a background check or who are younger than 21. It also bars the sale of bump stocks and high-capacity magazines. It would apply to clients who offer credit cards backed by Citigroup or borrow money, use banking services or raise capital through the company.”
“As a society, we all know that something needs to change. And as a company, we feel we must do our part,” Citigroup virtue oozes on its blog while claiming “It is not centered on an ideological mission to rid the world of firearms. That is not what we seek.”
That’s what they’re helping bring about as they align themselves with and help advance the goals of gloating gun-grabbers who do seek that.
“We have few relationships with companies that manufacture firearms,” Citigroup notes before dropping the other shoe. “For those that do, we will be initiating due diligence conversations on the subject to better understand what products they make, what markets and retailers they sell to and what sales practices those retailers follow to ensure adherence to the best practices outlined above. This same due diligence screening will apply to potential clients going forward.”
In other words, it’s their way or the highway.
And that’s just the direct anti-gun action on the company’s part. Indirectly, they have helped fund “opposition to … Donald Trump’s refugee and immigration policies.” That’s relevant because the push is on by constituent-building Democrats (and cheap labor Republicans) for amnesty, and “birthright citizenship” already exists. By all credible polls such populations favor gun restrictions by an overwhelming margin. This is also proven in the real world by the California experience.
Further, per Wall Street on Parade (rated “left-center,” so it’s not like I’m cherry-picking for a source that politically agrees with me):
“[E]mails from WikiLeaks show that President Obama, using the email address of bobama@ameritech.net, was communicating directly with Michael Froman of Citigroup in 2008, who fed Obama lists of recommended appointments to his cabinet. In an email from Froman dated October 6, 2008, with Froman using his Citigroup email address of fromanm@citi.com, Hillary Clinton shows up on Froman’s list for Secretary of State or head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In a separate list attached to the email, Eric Holder was recommended for U.S. Attorney General at the Department of Justice or as White House Counsel. … In less than a month after Obama’s election as President on November 4, 2008, Obama had nominated Clinton to be his Secretary of State and Holder as his Attorney General. Despite the unprecedented corruption rooted out on Wall Street by regulators, Holder failed to prosecute any of Wall Street’s top executives for the crimes that led to the greatest financial crash since the Great Depression.”
So the questions for gun owners who do business with Citigroup are:
Are YOU giving aid and comfort to the enemy? Why?
I asked those on my WarOnGuns blog and it elicited an intriguing reader response:
“Nope… Wired the entirety of a savings account I had with them to another bank, promptly cashed in my rewards points for gift cards and closed my 22-year long credit card account with them. When asked what made me decide to terminate all my accounts; I told them very specifically, asked them to note the reason on my accounts and also asked them to specifically note that I would be using the gift cards to buy ‘high capacity magazines.’
“For those inclined to do the same, they offer Cabelas gift cards through the rewards program…”
If his example is followed by every gun owner who still has accounts, it might make Citigroup’s next quarterly report reflect more disappointment for investors than the “Net Loss of $18.3 Billion ($7.15 per Share)” reported for Fourth Quarter 2017. And while some analysts may dismiss that as a “paper loss” due to tax code changes that they’ll soon shake off, perhaps gun owners can still show them unwarranted attacks can be costly — as they have before.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.