Bank of America Freezes Gun Manufacturer's Account, Company Owner Claims

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

There'd just be little or nothing to gain for the seller here?

Perhaps he is sitting on a large inventory. Who knows.

He's obviously making sales on something. He can't collect on credit card transactions until product ships.

The bank can't freeze what is not there.

I have no idea what his motive is, only that it doesn't smell right to me.

reply to post by Zarniwoop

Fair enough on not smelling right and we can't know based on just what we've seen here ...what the stink is, IMO. I tend to lean toward what is presented because BofA has a scumbag reputation. Wikileaks had drives from BofA exec computers they were going to be releasing when all the Manning stuff flowed in and basically halted anything but Iraq/Afghan/State Dept material. I would really have liked to know what all those drives held for details.

At any rate, your misgivings are why I'd started by saying I need a bit more confirmation before I'd be sharing this with people off-line in my life as a reason to pull their business from the bank. It'll be a story to watch, to be sure.

Originally posted by oniraug
looks like i'll be opening a new bank account somewhere else and spending all the money i have in my boa account sooner than later

that's just shady business.

and i don't even own a gun!

edit on 7-1-2013 by oniraug because: (no reason given)

I applaud you.

BofA is heartless and is always in court about some money scam or another. Managers are power-tripping and they are way overly aggressive in sales.

I hate them.

Originally posted by dc4lifeskater
well i guess he learned his lesson for using bank of america... next time maybe he will use a better bank like a local credit union..

I have no idea why anyone uses bank of american anyway their rates suck, they charge for everything, everytime i use to go there the line was so long and only 1 teller and they charge you to do biz at the window or tell you you can go to the atm and do it there because they are pushing people to go to atm only so they can make evern more money by not having to hire tellers...

Yes. I cam working there now, and can't wait to find something else ASAP!!

You are correct....they have an Electronic Account (shall I say) that is geared toward customers with lower balances and no direct deposit. These customers cannot come inside the branchto conduct business, or else they are charged a monthly fee. Otherwise, that fee is waived if they only use ATM or online banking..

With online banking, mobile banking, and the ATM itself, bankers are finding themselves out of jobs. No matter to BofA...they actually force you to encourage customers to use these 'alternative ways to bank, essentially pushing yourself out of a job since there is less and less a need for a person to even enter the bank anymore.

Rest assure, I am already searching for something else.

Originally posted by jibeho
B of A is a whore of a Bank regardless of this latest development... I pulled my money from them years ago... for any bank to to put its nose into the operations of a legal and legit business is just ridiculous... B of A would not look twice into financial dealings or ethics of its political account holders

Nevermind the fact that B of A loaned the Obama campaign $15 million dollars in the wee hours of the election campaign and the fact the they ponied up $20 million for the DNC in Charlotte.

While campaign loans are not unusual, Obama’s connections to Bank of America are politically charged. Warren Buffett, Obama donor and namesake of the infamous “Buffett Rule,” invested $5 billion in Bank of America, ostensively to help the ailing financial institution recover from a bad economy.

In September, two weeks after OFA took out the loan, Bank of America announced a plan to lay off 16,000 workers by the end of the year.

Also, Bank of America contributed $20 million toward the cost of the Democrat National Convention in Charlotte while Bank of America stadium, home to the Carolina Panthers, was scheduled to host Obama’s acceptance speech.

www.examiner.com...

Yep.

Warren Buffet sits on B of A's board and its headquarters is in Charlotte.

I agree, sounds like an attempt to scare people in purchasing.

But, is there a law where you cannot sell guns and gun parts on the internet in America?

seems plausible, whats to stop a joe blow crim purchasing something online where he doesnt need to give legit details?

I wonder if this could be the weapons he is selling and where he is selling them. He seems to be building weapons for movies which have grenade launchers on them and he is also selling weapons in the UK. And a lot of these weapons are being sold as used over the internet. And there is still a law about mail order weapons. You must have a face to face to get a weapon sold over the internet. This guy just bought the store and he is used to his other businesses of selling auto parts by mail and over the internet. I wonder if he is trying to do the same with weapons?

"Restraint of Trade" and a violation of his right to commercial intercourse....not to be confused with the other kind of "intercourse" that they were doing to him!

Just an FYI on a point I'd noticed on the thread, Having bought and sold firearms over the internet myself. I can say there are laws about it and they have no wiggle room to them. I checked the American Spirit Arms website to verify his policies and they're within the law.

If you sell over the internet like his site or an auction site such as Gunbroker, it MUST be shipped to a Federal Firearm Licence holder. (FFL). There is no way around that. If I ordered an AR-15 lower from him, for instance, that is the registered "firearm" portion of the rifle that comes under the requirements for a NICS check and paperwork. That would be shipped to a local gun store I supply his website and he'd then verify and contact to confirm arrangements.

When it arrives at my local gun store, they'll charge me $30 (the one I've used here established that as their fee for the handling a couple years ago) and will run the FBI NICS check face to face with me as required under federal regulations for a firearms transaction.

Ordering by mail by NO MEANS allows any 'work arounds' different from walking into Cabellas or Bass Pro and buying over the counter there....since quite literally, that IS what is happening before anyone has a gun to take home from the internet purchase. (I have no idea what happens on a failed background check since I've never experienced it or seen it happen in an FFL transfer sale. I'd imagine the local store would have the choice of buying it or shipping it back?)

Anyway.. I hope that helps clarify how internet based firearms sales work. No loop holes and no breaks...just a MUCH wider selection of stores and prices. Nothing much else changes.

reply to post by SirMike

An American bank, that we the people bailed out with our tax dollars now refuses to support the constitution of the United States. Imagine that. When the first reports of this nonsense started trickling in, my wife and I pulled our money from this bank. We are by no means wealthy, and I doubt the bank even noticed the loss, but its the principle behind it. Dont support the constitution? Well, you wont be getting our money.

reply to post by SirMike


I literally hate bank of America. Not only will I never do business with them due to past incompetence and horrible customer relations, but after this I am going to become very vocal about just how horrible they are.

May they close and may it happen swiftly.

After an exhaustive search, I can find nothing in the payment processing stream that prohibits, or even discourages card-not-present transactions involving gun sales.

The major card brands make no mention of this in their acceptance guidelines. They are only concerned about “high risk” transactions… those that result in a high number of charge-backs.

This is from a recent Mastercard guidelines document dated Dec 2012.


The payment processors and banks simply defer to the major brands for acceptance guidelines.

Regardless of your business’s industry, Bank of America Merchant Services offers guidelines and policies for card acceptance to assist with your business needs. These industry specific guidelines are set forth by the Card Associations to ensure you have the resources necessary to optimize your processing.

BofA Guidelines


I also reviewed a First Data merchant contract (BofA's processor), and there was no mention of gun sales or any high risk transactions for that matter. They also defer to the card brands for guidance on these issues.

If BofA actually made the statement about their policy, and is freezing Joe’s account as a result, then they are most likely doing so based on an unwritten policy.

In any case, Joe should get a letter from them explaining why they are taking these actions on his account. As of now, all we have is a rant on his FB page.

If this is true then I would say LAWSUIT time!!! This is a direct assault on the Second Amendment and obvious theft of property.

Originally posted by All Seeing Eye
If this is true then I would say LAWSUIT time!!! This is a direct assault on the Second Amendment and obvious theft of property.

The only problem with that is the BoA has deep pockets, expensive lawyers and they really don't like to lose to the little guys and set a precedent.

reply to post by happykat39


If Spirit went to court, there is no reason they couldnt ask the NRA, or maybe an association of various gun manufacturers to back that battle, and thats not a small and ineffective bunch to have at your back. That would be a battle of titans.

reply to post by All Seeing Eye

Yes they should close out their account; sue civily for damages; take that judgment when they dont pay and walk out of their NC HQ office with those NWO murals on their walls.

I don't expect to see a lawsuit, or any proof of what the shop owner claimed happened. It looks like Joe's issue is resolved and he is moving on.

Here is a post from his FB page from yesterday..

All,
I first want to thank all of you that have called, emailed and posted your support.
I also wanted to post an update and to clear up some questions ..
BANK OF AMERICA started holding American Spirit Arms deposits for REVIEW on 12-18-12.
Since that time we had to fight tooth and nail to get them released ..
We have now gotten most of the deposits and have set up new accounts with a local bank.
Again I want to thank everyone for the outpour of support on this matter and believe because
of You we were able to get our deposits..

reply to post by SirMike


he should sue them over that.

Totally illegal.

'd love to retaliate against BoA for this but I quit doing all business with them several years ago.It was around the time TARP passed, I believe.

I think a good way to retaliate is to refuse to do business with merchants that use Bank of America as their bank. How do you find that out? Most businesses don't leave a deposit slip lying around or advertise who they bank with. To find out what bank a merchant you do business with uses, just look at the back of a cleared check often there will be a stamp with the bank name on it, or if not there will be a routing number. Here is a link from BoA itself that will tell you the routing numbers for its branches in states that it operates. Oh, and don't just stop doing business with those that bank with BoA, let them know why they are no longer worthy of your money.

While typing this reply I went through my checks that I've written over the past few months. Luckily there is only one company I do business with that uses Bank of America. Unfortunately, it's my storage building we put a deceased family member's belongings in. So, that means I have to find a new storage building that doesn't use BoA and move an entire house worth of stuff to it. It's something I've been meaning to do anyway but saving $10/month wasn't worth the work it would cause me to do. Now it is.

HSBC and Wachovia helped drug dealers launder billions of dollars with no criminal prosecutions and fines that are probably less than the money they made helping launder the money. Bank of America hassles its customers and delays payments to its customers who sell a legal product. My question is why? It's pretty evident the TBTF banks have no social conscious whatsoever when you look at the past ten years of their business from NINJA loans to bailouts to robo-signing to laundering money for drug dealers and terrorists. Why on this issue do they feign some type faux decency? I'm open to ideas about this but I do know one thing to be sure:

LIFE IS GOOD FOR THE BANKSTERS

Ah, talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

They aren't willing to do business for gun manufacturers that sell small arms online but... they are willing to knowingly embezzle drug money for the Mexican Cartel .

I'll tell you man, you can't make this sh-- up