GUNS S AND BITTER R
Firearms makers ask Senate for first aid
Cut off by their credit card processors, some handgun retailers are asking Congress for help, The Post has learned.
The small business owners and an industry group have asked the Senate Banking Committee to take a look at the actions of the credit card processors — which they claim stopped servicing perfectly legal transactions.
“We are talking to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and they are considering asking for oversight hearings for these financial institutions to come in and justify their policies,” said Larry Keane, a vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, of Newtown, Conn., which represents the gun industry.
“We are starting to see boardroom legislation imposed through economic decisions,” Keane said. “What if they don’t want to take charges for gasoline because of global warming? Is meat or milk next because of hormones, or soda because it causes obesity? There is no end to it.”
The NSSF reached out to Congress after Intuit in recent weeks suddenly stopped pro- cessing credit card transactions for Gunsite Academy, a Paulden, Ariz., store that sells firearms, provides safety classes and operates a shop that sells T-shirts and mugs.
Lindsay Nothern, a spokesman for Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), said the lawmaker “has taken issue with the fact that the financial institutions have cut off credit from legal operations. We understand everybody has an opinion … but the law is the law.”
Committee spokeswoman Mandi Critchfield said the issue is “something that we are following closely.”
The sudden Intuit action forced Gunsite Academy to scramble to reach out to customers to get them to re-pay for their merchandise, according to Ken Campbell, the store’s chief operating officer.
“We recognize that in this specific situation, we caused an inconvenience for our customer,” an Intuit spokeswoman said. “We’re actively working with the customer to better understand their experience, and we’re doing a full evaluation of our practices and processes so that we deliver a better experience in the future.”
The business owners feel Intuit dropped them because the credit card wasn’t present and the firearms were shipped — and thus the transaction wasn’t face-to-face. But the guns were sent to the local Federal Firearm Licensee who conducted the background checks and finished the transaction face-to-face.
“They are disclosing their ignorance because all firearm sales must be completed faceto-face,” Keane said.
Arms-maker Honor Defense was also dropped by its credit card processor, Stripe, scompany exec Gary Ramey. said He switched to Intuit, which also dropped him.