Citibank is not a public utility.
As such, it is has no obligation to recognize your Second Amendment rights. If Citibank wants to impose a set of rules aimed at curbing certain gun sales, potentially driving away a niche of current and potential clients, that’s their right.
It’s stupid, but that’s their right.
Citibank announced this week that it wants to do its part, “as a company to prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands.” To this end, the group explained in a statement, it is “instituting a new U.S. Commercial Firearms Policy,” which will impose restrictions on new retail sector clients and partners:
The statement continued, explaining Citibank has a “few relationships with companies that manufacture firearms.”
“For those that do, we will be initiating due diligence conversations on the subject to better understand what products they make, what markets and retailers they sell to and what sales practices those retailers follow to ensure adherence to the best practices outlined above. This same due diligence screening will apply to potential clients going forward,” it added.
Put aside the idea that this announcement is almost entirely symbolic, and that it likely will have little to no effect on gun violence. Also, put aside the fact that the bank doesn’t specify what it means when it refers to “high capacity magazines.” And let’s also ignore the parts where Citibank’s announcement makes it sound like the company wants “to pressure other financial institutions into instituting similar policies to deny consumers the right to purchase the legal protects Citi Bank doesn’t like,” as the Washington Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski noted.
Let’s focus instead on how wild it is that a banking group is getting into the game of manipulating client behavior. It’d be one thing if Citibank was taking steps to curb illegal practices, but that’s not the case. The bank is telling lawful customers how to conduct lawful business. That’s crazy. That’s too much power in the hands of a corporation.
Citibank isn’t the only game in town. The likeliest outcome here is that targeted clients and partners will move to institutions that can handle banking needs without also imposing a set of “best practices” (i.e. telling them how to run their business).
Citibank can impose any restriction it wants. It can make any demand it wants. It’s their right. But don’t be surprised if this week’s policy announcement, which is supposedly aimed at reducing gun violence, results only in decreased membership.
