There's something inherently infuriating about someone approaching you to do business with you, only for them to decide they don't like your business.
People have a right to do business with whoever they want to, ultimately, and that means that I have to accept that some are anti-gun. I can either decline to do business with them because of it, or I can shrug it off. I do the former, but that's for each person to decide. If enough of us do, we might shift these businesses' policies.
But while it's their call who they do business with, the idea of being approached by a service provider only for them to decide later they don't want to work with you is really just them wasting your time. Even if you realize who and what they are, it's still an annoyance, and they know it. It's still a waste of time, even if it's just the time spent dealing with the solicitation, and Royal Bank of Canada is accused of doing just that.
It should be no surprise that a Canadian bank would be in lockstep with that country’s disdain for lawful firearm ownership. After all, Canada’s bent on confiscating lawfully owned firearms from owners who did nothing to violate the law. The outlook for personal freedoms in Canada is decidedly murkier after Canada’s ill-advised crackdown on protests against the government that led to arrests of hundreds in 2020. It seems the stereotype of Canadian “nice” isn’t holding up these days.
That’s especially true when it comes to the firearm industry.
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the largest bank in Canada, holds CA$2.325 trillion (or $1.76 trillion U.S. dollars) in total assets. The RBC has a market capitalization of approximately $291 billion U.S. dollars. It’s a top global financial institution, ranked as the eighth largest bank worldwide and fifth largest in North America by market capitalization. RBC serves 17 million clients across Canada, the United States and 27 other countries, employing over 101,000 people around the globe.
RBC operates through subsidiaries in the United States, with City National Bank, which includes First American Equipment Finance, operating 79 branches in 11 U.S. states (primarily focused on commercial and private banking), RBC Wealth Management at 195 offices and RBC Capital Markets with 55 offices.
That kind of American footprint and market capital would lead some to believe that RBC would be on the leading edge of understanding rules that ban financial services discrimination in the United States. Those people would be wrong.
U.S. Gun Business Not Welcome
Nate Treadaway, CEO of Vigilant Gear, LLC, tagged NSSF in a LinkedIn post, writing, “Should I be surprised that a Canadian based bank ‘restricts’ lending (aka discriminates) to the firearms industry? Probably not. But, for the love of God, don’t solicit me first and then tell me you won’t do business because our industry. Shame on him. Shame on RBC. Shame on First American.”
Treadaway wasn’t done.
“PS — No, I don’t need any lending services today so please don’t solicit me with your lending proposals. I get 5-6 a week, but this one made it though [sic] my spam filter and thought I’d hear him out. Lesson learned,” he added.
While I happen to think that businesses should be free to work with whoever they want, that's not the position of the United States government. Those days are over, and while RBC might be based in Canada, they're subject to American rules when they try to do business here in America.
So, in essence, they discriminate against the firearm industry, but they also want to solicit the firearm industry to do business with them. Why? It could be simply to waste the time of people like Treadway. It may well be that the individuals doing the solicitation are unaware of the corporate policies that create an issue in the first place. That person might be fine with the firearm industry, but those above him are.
Honestly, though, while that might be the case, that doesn't make the situation any better. Especially when the rules meant to bar discrimination against the gun industry by the financial industry don't require them to make solicitation efforts, so far as I'm aware. They could simply not try to pitch these businesses and hope they go somewhere else and likely be in the clear.
But they didn't, and they failed to communicate anything with the people below, and so now everyone's time is wasted.
Maybe RBC should focus on business on its side of the border since it doesn't seem remotely interested in following our rules.
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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