FDIC’s “Operation Choke Point” and firearms sellers

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Oblamich ManeuverFDIC’s new view: let’s simply choke them out.  Like a nice arm-bar or carotid choke.

From the WashingtonTimes.com:

‘High risk’ label from feds puts gun sellers in banks’ crosshairs, hurts business

Obama plan pressures financial institutions

by Kelly Riddell

Gun retailers say the Obama administration is trying to put them out of business with regulations and investigations that bypass Congress and choke off their lines of credit, freeze their assets and prohibit online sales.

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.

And why would that be, ladies and gentlemen?  Paul Harvey said this, here, about armed vs unarmed societies.  If you are intelligent you realize who Paul Harvey was.  If you are a Millennial you are not and couldn’t care less about your freedoms as long as you can Tweet and clasp an iPad.

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.

“This administration has very clearly told the banking industry which customers they feel represent ‘reputational risk’ to do business with,” said Peter Weinstock, a lawyer at Hunton & Williams LLP. “So financial institutions are reacting to this extraordinary enforcement arsenal by being ultra-conservative in who they do business with: Any companies that engage in any margin of risk as defined by this administration are being dropped.”

This is federal GovSpeak for “let us eliminate firearms retailers, and those who are injured vicariously are simply fodder for the greater good.”

A Justice Department representative said the agency is conducting several investigations that aim to hold accountable banks “who are knowingly assisting fraudulent merchants who harm consumers.”

Translated: banks who loan to those frowned-upon by the federal government will themselves be held under more constant and critical scrutiny by said federal government.
This is, again, the federal government purposely choosing which private businesses will succeed and which private businesses will fail.  Via banks and loans and the FDIC.

How about some specific examples?

T.R. Liberti, owner and operator of Top Gun Firearms Training & Supply in Miami, has felt the sting firsthand. Last month, his local bank, BankUnited N.A., dumped his online business from its service.

An explanatory email from the bank said: “This letter in no way reflects any derogatory reasons for such action on your behalf. But rather one of industry. Unfortunately your company’s line of business is not commensurate with the industries we work with.”

-Black Rifle Armory in Henderson, Nevada, had its bank accounts frozen this month as the bank tried to determine whether any of Black Rifle’s online transactions were suspicious.•

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.

“This seems to be happening with greater frequency and to many more dealers,” said Joe Sirochman, owner of American Spirit Arms. “At first, it was the bigger guys — gun parts manufacturers or high-profile retailers. Now the smaller mom-and-pop shops are being choked out, and they need their cash to buy inventory. Freezing their assets will put them out of business.”

But of course it is only business and has no foundation in the type of business involved nor is it sourced from DC.
And HERE is the paragraph that reveals all:

However, the American Banking Association, the industry’s advocacy group in Washington, said businesses deemed “risky” will be frozen out of the financial system if the Justice Department continues Operation Choke Point because the regulatory burden and risk of investigation will be too great for less-specialized banks to bear.

There you go.  A “way around” to trump all way-arounds.  And bankers respond:

“We’re being threatened with a regulatory regime that attempts to foist on us the obligation to monitor all types of transactions,” Richard Riese, a senior vice president at the American Bankers Association, said in the April 28 issue of American Banker. “All of this is predicated on a notion that the banks are a choke point for all businesses.”

To a point never addressed before, until the Obama Administration.  And that never addressed by Leftists “in the tank” for Mr Obama.
In an interview with The Times, Mr. Riese said the cost of doing business with gun retailers outweighs the benefits for some banks, given that regulators deem the industry as “risky,” state laws vary on the sale of guns and ammunition, and the Justice Department’s enforcement.

The Independent Community Bankers of America, an association for small banks, said enforcement actions from the Justice Department are too broad and overly aggressive.

Are any of you surprised that this stems from the Obama Administration — the most strident opponent of the Second Amendment in history?

And here is the point — that I apparently have to emphasize — again and again:

Commentary by Paul Harvey:

     
     "Are you considering backing gun control laws???"
     
     Do you think that because you may not own a gun, the
     rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment don't
     matter?
     
     CONSIDER THIS...
     In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control.
     - From 1929 to 1953, approximately 20 million
     dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded
     up and exterminated.
     
     In 1911, Turkey established gun control.
     - From 1915-1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to
     defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
     
     Germany established gun control in 1938.
     - From 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, gypsies,
     homosexuals, the mentally ill, and others, who were
     unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
     exterminated.
     
     China established gun control in 1935.
     - From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents,
     unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
     exterminated.
     
     Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
     - From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to
     defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
     
     Uganda established gun control in 1970.
     - From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to
     defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
     
     Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
     - From 1975 to 1977, one million "educated" people,
     unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
     exterminated.
     
     That places total victims who lost their lives because
     of gun control at approximately 56 million in the last
     century.
     
     Since we should learn from the mistakes of history,
     the next time someone talks in favor of gun control,
     find out which group of citizens they wish to have
     exterminated.
     
     It has now been 12 months since gun owners in
     Australia were forced to surrender 640,381 personal
     firearms to be destroyed, a program costing the
     government more than $500 million dollars.
     - The results Australia-wide; Homicides are up 3.2%,
     Assaults are up 8 %, and Armed robberies are up 44%.
     In that country's state of Victoria, homicides with
     firearms are up 300%.
     
     Over the previous 25 years, figures show a steady
     decrease in armed robberies and Australian politicians
     are on the spot and at a loss to explain how no
     improvement in "safety" has been observed after such
     monumental effort and expense was successfully
     expended in "ridding society of guns."
     
     It's time to state it plainly; Guns in the hands of
     honest citizens save lives and property and, yes,
     gun-control laws only affect the law-abiding citizens.
     Take action before it's too late, write or call your
     delegation.
     
     Paul Harvey

Past history is the best predictor of future performance or the lack thereof.

BZ

 

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8 thoughts on “FDIC’s “Operation Choke Point” and firearms sellers”

  1. These are the best points to bring up if and when the discussion ensues, and it only works when talking to intelligent people. The count of intelligent people is declining, I believe by design.

    • Capt Ron, you are correct. And that is in fact by design, due to our current educational paradigm. Education is now predicated mostly around feelings rather than facts and reality.

      I’ve always said: if you control 1) Education and 2) SCOTUS, you control the nation.

      BZ

  2. The idea that banks should monitor and assess the activities of their customers is another example of how the government continually seeks to insinuate itself into all aspects of our lives and take CONTROL..
    Will the government one day decide every wire transfer must require a reason for the transfer? Will one day you have to give a reason why you are withdrawing a large sum of your own money from your own account? Will you have to prove it is for a legal purpose? Will the government decide that people with X amount of money in their accounts constitute some sort of a risk?
    When will this interference end?
    Today the gun industry. Who will it be tomorrow?

  4. Sex and drugs and guns our core,
    We’re the class of ’84 !!!

    So… apparently we have a problem.
    It’s not gonna work. No sirree Bob.

    Funny thing.
    I’ve never paid for sex / porn
    never paid for paraphernalia
    never paid for firearms

    Huh. I wonder what they must think of me.

    • I can only hope that Texas holds out as long as it can.

      It’s damned near another country entirely, UNTIL you get to its populated cores such as Dallas and Houston.

      BZ

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