Financially Enacting Gun Control

Aaron Spuler is a firearms enthusiast and recreational shooter. Follow more or his work at The Weapon Blog

In the wake of recent mass shootings in Las Vegas, Florida and elsewhere disturbing news reports have emerged that some banks and credit card companies are exploring ways to enact gun control from the private sector by developing ways to flag, and possibly restrict, gun purchases. By “coding” purchases made, as these companies already do for restaurants and department stores, the credit card companies would be able to see when and where a customer purchased a firearm. This is a slippery slope to discrimination and violates people’s Second Amendment rights as well as their privacy.

Under pressure from the anti-gun lobby, top corporate executives at these institutions are grasping at straws for a way to curb gun ownership in America, a misguided attempt they think will prevent the kind of violence that our country has seen too often recently. But going after people who are legally purchasing guns from legitimate dealers are not the problem. The vast majority of legal gun owners are law-abiding citizens, who are willingly submitting to background checks and other legal hurdles put in place by their states. If someone wants to lawfully acquire a firearm, a financial institution has no right to monitor or stop that purchase. A credit card company or bank has no way of knowing why someone is purchasing a firearm, and it is not up to them to discern whether or not that person is making an appropriate purchase.

Liberal activism has turned corporate. Certain companies have ceased partnerships with the NRA, or pulled firearms from their shelves and factories. While it is their right to do so, this is not the way to stop violent attacks in our country.

Read the rest of the article: https://townhall.com/columnists/timschmidt/2018/06/25/a-slippery-slope-to-second-amendment-discrimination-n2494246