Small Business Owner Says Bank Denied Service Because She Sells Guns

By Kelsey Harkness

A small business owner from Central Florida alleges she was denied service by one of the largest banks in the United States strictly because she sells guns.
“It’s a slap in the face,” Peggy Craig, owner of Michael’s Pawn and Gun in Fruitland Park, Fla., told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. “It affects my livelihood, it affects how I feel, and I think it’s total bias and discrimination.”
On May 7, Craig called TD Bank seeking a new line of credit to buy inventory and produce advertisements for her small, 23-year-old storefront, Michael’s Pawn and Gun.
When a TD Bank representative pulled up the shop’s Facebook page and discovered that it sells guns, Craig says the representative told her, “We can’t lend to anyone who sells firearms.”
“The phone call probably didn’t even last two minutes, at best,” Craig said. “She hadn’t even got to things like Social Security numbers or income … it was just [asking for my] address and how many years we’ve been in business.”
Once she discovered Craig sold guns, “It was boom, end of conversation,” Craig said.
In response to an inquiry from The Daily Signal, TD Bank says it has no blanket policy against the gun industry.
“This is not a bank policy, and might have been miscommunicated,” a spokesperson said.
Craig’s account follows similar stories of banks across the United States refusing to do business with people in the firearms, ammunition and pawn industries.
In March, SunTrust Bank closed the accounts of a Brooksville, Fla., pawn shop that also sells guns.
SunTrust is open about its policy to block service to three legal enterprises—payday lenders, pawn shops and dedicated check-cashers.
The bank says it owes its policy to “compliance requirements.”
Some Republican lawmakers allege that banks like SunTrust are actually following guidance handed down to them by federal regulators.
“Federal regulators have created an environment for banks that forces them to turn away legal law-abiding business that bureaucrats disagree with for fear of investigation or increased scrutiny—both of which carry high costs and regulatory hurdles,” Rep. Dennis A. Ross, R-Fla., told The Daily Signal.
Ross, along with a group of Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee, is investigating the trend of banks terminating relationships with entirely legal and legitimate industries.
Investigations have tied this “overreach” to a Justice Department program known as Operation Choke Point. The program was created to reduce fraud by “choking” fraudsters out of financial services.