They’re also trying to limit how Americans can purchase a firearm. “Buy now, pay later services” have become a target of the gun control lobby in recent years, with activists like Giffords’ Adam Skaggs complaining to the New York Times that “the availability of easy financing options for weapons raises the possibility of abuse” and lawmakers like Rep. John Larson (D-CT) introducing bills that would prohibit using these services to purchase guns.

On today’s Bearing Arms Cam & Co, Credova CEO Dusty Wunderlich joins the show to discuss the gun control lobby’s strategy, as well as the efforts to push back by some state and federal lawmakers.

“The same lawmakers who complain about discrimination against underserved communities in the financial sector are completely okay with taking the only constitutionally protected product and eliminating a form of payment for those consumers,” Wunderlich says. “It’s just rooted in hypocrisy. There’s no strong ideological foundation in which they’re arguing this point, as I think most of your listeners know. This is just catering to the political whims of the day.”

Some high-profile crimes have been committed by individuals who used BNPL options to purchase their firearms, but going after their method of purchase is just as short-sighted and asinine as blaming the guns instead of the person who pulled the trigger. For the gun prohibitionists among us, however, Larson’s bill represents a backdoor way to prevent some Americans from exercising their Second Amendment rights.

The Assault Weapons Financing Accountability Act would make it harder for people with evil intentions to get instant access to assault weapons without ever intending to pay. We thank Representative Larson for introducing this legislation that could prevent future mass shootings,” said Adzi Vokhiwa, Giffords Federal Affairs Director.  

“In dozens of shootings, including in Orlando and Las Vegas, credit has been used to skirt the costs of semi-automatic weapons, making these weapons of war even more accessible,” said Elena Perez, a Senior Policy Associate at March For Our Lives. “Buy Now, Pay Later programs provide instant financing, undermining responsible gun ownership and, instead, encouraging impulsive purchases with little repercussions. When lives are on the line, we must do everything we can to save them, including a ban on Buy Now Pay Later programs on semi-automatic rifles.”

“Allowing assault weapons to be purchased using Buy Now, Pay Later loans opens a myriad of doors from which tragedy can enter. These loans enable impulsive purchases – particularly for young people with no credit history – and threaten the safety of all Americans. These predatory payment plans only serve to further the gun industry’s goal of mass proliferation of weapons of war in our communities. Brady is grateful to Congressman Larson for introducing this legislation that will put a stop to this reckless practice,” said Kris Brown, President of Brady: United Against Gun Violence.

If the anti-gunners have a problem with “buy now, pay later”, then they’re going to take issue with buying firearms (or ammunition) on credit in general. Unfortunately, not everyone has the cash in hand to pay in full at the time of purchase, and BNPL may be the only way that some of us can afford to exercise our Second Amendment right to acquire a gun. Of course gun control fans want to take that ability away from working-class Americans and those of us living paycheck-to-paycheck. They don’t like any of us exercising our Second Amendment rights, and if they can use these prohibitions to deny gun ownership to millions of Americans by forcing them to pay cash up front that would be a huge victory for anti-2A forces.

Wunderlich says that Larson’s bill is bottled up in the House for now, but he does worry about what will happen if Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress this fall. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable concern, though the attack on BNPL plans will only be one aspect of much broader attack on our Second Amendment rights. If they’ve got the numbers to approve gun control legislation, we can expect to see more bills going after how we purchase firearms, along with what guns we can purchase, who’s allowed to buy them, and where and we can carry them.

Check out the entire conversation with Credova CEO Dusty Wunderlich in the video window below, and tune in tomorrow when Jim Wallace of the Gun Owners Action League joins the show to discuss the devils in the details of the Massachusetts Senate’s new gun control bill.