The Democratic Party has been unable to sway public opinion on the issue of gun control, but that hasn’t stopped the Obama administration from using the Department of Justice to harass legal gun dealers under a program called Operation Choke Point.
Guidelines designed to discourage banks from doing business with illegal and heinous operations involving things like human trafficking and child pornography are now being applied to legal and legitimate businesses which are deemed “high risk.”
Chuck Ross of The Daily Caller filed this report yesterday:
Audio Tapes Reveal How Federal Regulators Shut Down Gun Store Owner’s Bank AccountsConversations recorded by a Wisconsin gun store owner provide perhaps the clearest glimpse yet into how the federal government uses regulators to target legal firearm and ammunition sellers.“Our hands are tied by it,” a regional manager with Heritage Credit Union told Hawkins Guns owner Mike Shuetz of federal regulations which forced the institution to close Shuetz’s bank accounts in November.Recordings of Shuetz’s conversations with the manager and a bank teller, which were published online by the U.S. Consumer Coalition, make it clear that the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) examined the credit union’s books and forced it to close Shuetz’s account — a move he blames on a Department of Justice initiative called Operation Choke Point.Schuetz’s saga began on Nov. 13, when he says Heritage Credit Union informed him that it would have to close his bank accounts.“I received a call from Heritage Credit Union in Hawkins, where I set up my business account for Hawkins Guns. They told me I had to close the account because they do not service companies that deal in guns,” wrote Shuetz on Facebook at the time.
Try for a moment to imagine the outrage that would follow if a Republican administration applied this sort of pressure to banks doing business with newly legal Marijuana dealers in Colorado (or any other business they just didn’t like.)
Townhall editor Katie Pavlich discussed the issue with Shannon Bream on the Kelly File Tuesday night. Video via the Daily Signal:
Gun Dealers Targeted by Operation Choke PointRetailers in the gun industry told The Daily Signal’s Kelsey Harkness this week that they’re being discriminated against by payment processors that prohibit the use of their systems for online—and some in-store—sales of firearms, ammunition and certain accessories. The news prompted a full segment last night on Fox News’ “The Kelly File.”
Featured image via YouTube.
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