Kent Cartridge Company, a West Virginia-based manufacturer of shotgun shells, says it was denied services by two payment processing firms because of the products it makes. Now West Virginia's attorney general is investigating, and the two companies accused of discriminating against a company in the firearms industry could find themselves facing civil litigation.
National Shooting Sports Foundation's Larry Keane highlighted Kent Cartridge Company's plight in a recent post at NSSF's website, noting that Bill.com and Ramp "both separately informed officials at Kent Cartridge that they couldn’t use their services 'due to compliance and underwriting restrictions,' and 'due to restrictions from our partners,' according to emails provided to NSSF."
Bill still lists “Weapons & Defense Sector” as “Restricted Business and Industry,” with the clarifying description of “Manufacture, sale or production of arms, military and dual use equipment, weapons, guns, ammunition or explosives.”
To borrow a movie line, “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em.” Even Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America changed their “debanking” tune after years of espousing “woke” financial discrimination policies.
That’s for several reasons. First, West Virginia is, arguably, one of the most pro-Second Amendment states and one of the friendliest to firearm and ammunition companies. West Virginia’s Gov. Patrick Morrisey has made it a point of signing legislation to protect the firearm industry against this very type of illegal discrimination.
Gov. Morrisey signed West Virginia’s Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act.
“As Governor, I will always support and defend West Virginians’ God-given constitutional rights,” said Gov. Morrisey in a press release when he signed the law. “The bills I signed today further enshrine West Virginia’s strong support for the Second Amendment. Thank you to the legislature for working with me to get this done.”
Before Gov. Morrisey was elected to his current office, he was the state’s attorney general and fought financial discrimination against the firearm industry alongside other pro-gun state attorneys general.
That responsibility now belongs to West Virginia’s Attorney General (AG) JB McCuskey. He’s the state AG who led 26 state AGs for a Department of Justice (DOJ) coalition of a Second Amendment Task Force to examine policies hostile to the Second Amendment.
According to Keane, the attorney general is now investigating Bill.com and Ramp, and if either Bill or Ramp does any kind of business or has a contract with the state, they could face a civil suit from both Kent Cartridge Company and the attorney general's office.
Keane notes that President Donald Trump also signed an executive order "Guaranteeing Free and Fair Banking for All Americans."
Essentially, the Trump administration did away with the “woke” financial discrimination policies that were allowed to fester under the Biden administration and revived and privatized the illegal Operation Choke Point.
Under Trump's EO, the Justice Department could also go after Bill and Ramp if it's shown that they've been discriminating against Kent Cartridge Company or other members of the firearms industry.
The good news is that after NSSF originally posted Keane's story, the foundation was informed that Bill.com reached out to Kent Cartridge Company to "inform them that recent changes were made to their policies and [it] is open to conducting business. Ramp, however, has not been heard from, according to NSSF.
It was wise for Bill.com executives to see the writing on the wall here, and I'm glad that they've made the necessary policy changes to stay in compliance with West Virginia and federal policies. Still, the fact that this happened in the first place is troubling, and I'm looking forward to seeing what West Virginia's attorney general has to say about the actions of these companies.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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