The tactic for pressuring firearm-related business pioneered by New York Governor Andrew Soprano is now spreading to California.
State legislatures…are finding ways to pressure banks. Recently, California Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) introduced a resolution to urge “banks that have open demand accounts with the state to evaluate their relationships with gun manufacturers and adopt lending practices that protect citizens before profits.”
The resolution states the California has “demand accounts with six banks that concurrently lend to gun manufacturers, which are Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Union Bank MUFG, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo & Co.” According to Kamlager-Dove, “California has more gun laws than any other state in the union.” Hence, instead of proposing new laws, Kamlager-Dove’s resolution “intends to affect the proliferation of guns by urging six nationally chartered banks to curtail their relationships with gun manufacturers.
If major banks refuse to extend credit to gun manufacturers, borrowing costs for gun manufacturers would likely increase, which could reduce industry investment in additional capacity or new business lines.” Moreover, “such a result could reduce the proliferation of guns not only in California, but also across state lines.”
When I interviewed, Kamlager-Dove, she told me that she sat with banks and bank associations in California “as a courtesy and to encourage their members to come to the table and partner with the state to expand solutions to the gun violence epidemic outside of using the penal code.”Even after devastating mass shootings, “firearms production continues. We have an overproliferation of guns,” she said. “Firearm companies still keep getting indebted, because they can borrow from banks.” She explained that in the past, companies and banks “were able to divest from South Africa during the time of apartheid. Now some banks in the U.S. want to divest from private prisons. We have been able to get banks to stop transactions in rogue countries.They can certainly end transactions with gun manufacturers, too.”Kamlager-Dove emphasized that “We need to be having a conversation about banks and how they lend. This cannot only be about red flag bills. I am sure that many people killed are also customers and clients of banks. Doesn’t that deserve some consideration?”