The dangerous epidemic of large banking institutions discriminating against, or “debanking,” companies within the gun industry—especially makers of modern semi-auto rifles incorrectly referred to by many as “assault weapons”—has been occurring for a long time.
And JPMorgan Chase, one of the largest financial institutions in the country, has been right in the middle of the controversy. Now, however, it seems leadership at JPMorgan Chase is finally going to do the right thing.
According to a news item posted online on February 2 by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the big bank recently announced that its policy of denying services to manufacturers of modern semi-automatic rifles has been rescinded.
“That’s a welcome reversal of policy after NSSF met with JPMorgan Chase officials to work to end the discriminatory policy,” Larry Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, wrote in the news item. “It is also the most recent of the big banks, including Bank of America and Citigroup, that have shifted banking service policies that previously froze out members of the firearm industry.”
In a January 14 letter to NSSF, JPMorgan Chase CEO Ben Walter stated that the bank believes “no one should be denied a bank account or service based on religious or political viewpoint or affiliation.” In the letter, Walter also wrote that JPMorgan Chase has “removed firmwide restrictions” on several sectors, including a restriction it “previously maintained on lending to manufacturers of modern sporting rifles for civilian use.”
The letter also discusses internal measures to enhance consistency and minimize errors, including updates to its customer fairness policy and code of conduct language prohibiting discrimination based on political or religious viewpoints.
“That’s not a minor tweak for the banking giant,” Keane wrote. “That’s a significant shift from CEO Jamie Dimon’s testimony before Congress in 2021 that the bank wouldn’t finance modern sporting rifle makers. Dimon said earlier this year that wasn’t true, yet the policy existed.
“NSSF is grateful for the change that takes politics out of business.”
According to NSSF, JPMorgan Chase even explained some of the reasoning behind the rollback of the discriminatory banking policies.
“Based on our experience over time, we found that some of the expected risks related to lending to such manufacturers were not as significant as we had anticipated,” the letter stated. “We also understand that not serving a client or prospective client carries its own risks. That’s why our approach is to consider each client or prospective client on a case-by-case basis, considering a variety of objective commercial factors, including operational capabilities, risk management, and business strategy.”
Ultimately, NSSF warned that the big banks like JPMorgan Chase must prove they are serious about stopping discrimination and aren’t simply talking a good game.
“Banking discrimination against the firearm industry was wrong—and illegal—when President Barack Obama introduced it as Operation Choke Point,” Keane wrote. “It was wrong when it was privatized by banks. It appears to be finally being scrubbed from existence, but the proof will be when firearm businesses can demonstrate they can access the financial services they need with these big banks.”
