By Selwyn Duke

You might think that a professional outfit such as Bank of
America operated based on stated policy and not caprice. But not according to
owner of American Spirit Arms Joe Sirochman.  

On his Facebook page, Sirochman tells of his adventures with
the banking giant. Like other gun dealers and manufacturers, his business is booming
currently — Internet orders are up 500 percent. This caused there to be an
unusual number of deposits made to his business’ BoA account via his website’s e-commerce
system, triggering an account freeze. This may not seem strange, as banks have
security systems that temporarily freeze accounts when detecting anomalous
activity. This happened to me once after using my debit card to make an unusual
series of purchases; the freeze was irritating, but nothing a few minutes on
the phone didn’t remedy. But this is where Sirochman’s story takes a bizarre
turn. He writes
(edited for style):

After countless hours on the phone
with Bank of America, I finally got a manager in the right department who told
me the reason that the deposits were on hold for further review. Her exact
words were:

“We believe you should not be
selling guns and parts on the Internet.”

Shocking.

Sirochman then told the manager that “they have no right to
make up their own new rules and [regulations]” and that he is a licensed
firearms manufacturer in conformity with all relevant laws. She said she
understood and that the deposits would be released after they had a “[c]hance
to review and clear them” (wink, nod?). Yet after two weeks of increased
Internet business, reports Sirochman, only one third of the collected sales
have been cleared. And this is a man who has been doing business with BoA for
10 years.

I support a company’s right to refuse to do business with
whomever it pleases (freedom of association); although rejecting firearms
manufacturers would make a bank boycott-worthy. But to accept someone’s business
and then persecute him for political reasons — as appears the case here — is
reprehensible. The funds will be released when the bank has a “chance to review and clear them”? As per
my experience, your money is supposed to be cleared as soon as you inform the
institution that anomalous charges aren’t the result of criminal activity.

And this isn’t the first time BoA has exhibited anti-Second
Amendment tendencies. As CNSNews writes,
“McMillan Group International was reportedly told that its business was no longer welcome after the
company started manufacturing firearms — even after 12 years of doing business
with the bank.”

Never fear, though, other types of business are still
welcome. As an example, BoA is to some degree Sharia compliant, according
to Sharia Finance Watch.

So gun manufacturers and owners aren’t BoA’s kind of people,
but we know who is. Well, BoA, you’re not my kind of bank. I have gun and will
travel with my funds to a different institution.

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                                       © 2013 Selwyn Duke — All Rights Reserved