BANKS Financing Assault Weapons Industry: BOA, Wells Fargo, Capital One, BB&T...
"These Are the Banks Financing the Assault Weapons Industry: More Than a Dozen Institutions Are Bankrolling Mass Shootings," ThinkProgress, March 5, 2018 Updated. *Story Will Be Updated As Companies Respond To ThinkProgress.*
Since the Parkland shooting, corporations with financial ties to the NRA have been subjected to intense scrutiny. In less than two weeks, consumers have convinced more than 20 companies to end relationships with a gun lobby that has encouraged the proliferation of assault weapons and aggressively blocked virtually all legislation to curb gun violence.
Less attention has been paid to the banks supporting manufacturers that produce those weapons — especially the semi-automatic assault weapons used at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and in so many other mass shootings.
On February 24, one bank came forward to say it’s reconsidering its own relationship to gun manufacturers.
“We are joining other companies in our industry to examine what we can do to help end the tragedy of mass shootings, and an immediate step we’re taking is to engage the limited number of clients we have that manufacture assault weapons for non-military use to understand what they can contribute to this shared responsibility,” Bank of America said in a statement to Axios.
Banks financing the assault weapons industry in a review of SEC filings and other public records revealed that Bank of America isn’t the only financial institution that finances the production of assault weapons.
Five of the largest gun manufacturers are supported by over a dozen banks through varying types of credit arrangements.
ThinkProgress reached out to all of the banks financing Remington Outdoor, Smith & Wesson, Sturm Ruger, Sig Sauer, and Vista Outdoor, the makers of the assault weapons used in Parkland, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, at a church in Texas, and in countless other tragedies.
*THE BANKS INCLUDE:
Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, Branch Bank & Trust (BB&T), Capital One, Citizens Financial Group, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley Bank, MUFG Bank, Northern Trust, Peoples United Bank, Regions Bank, Stifel Bank & Trust, TD Bank, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, Zions First National, *Berkshire Bank *no longer providing financing for assault weapons manufacturer. Con't...
READ MORE: https://thinkprogress.org/banks-financing-guns-c985a46dd4d1/
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An attendee inspects a scope on an assault rifle during the 2013 NRA ANNUAL MEETING & EXHIBITS at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 3, 2013 in Houston, Texas.
(Credit: Justin, Sullivan/Getty Images)
