Citigroup Places Limits On Clients’ Gun Sales

Citigroup is placing restrictions on its business customers, requiring them to sell guns to only those that pass a background check and are 21 or older. The bank is also requiring its retail business clients to stop selling bump stocks or high capacity magazines.

CNBC, citing a statement by Citigroup, reported the restrictions are for customers who receive credit cards, borrow money or use services to raise capital from Citigroup. Citigroup is calling the rules “common-sense measures” and follows similar rules put into place by some big retailers including Walmart. Its also seen as one of the more bold moves on gun control coming from the financial services industry in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 children and adults dead.

Other financial services companies have opted to address the issue by having talks with the gun industry. Bank of America and BlackRock have taken that approach. In February, Bank of America announced it was taking a look at its gun clients. “We are joining other companies in our industry to examine what we can do to help end the tragedy of mass shootings, and an immediate step we’re taking is to engage the limited number of clients we have that manufacture assault weapons for non-military use to understand what they can contribute to this shared responsibility,” a Bank of America spokesperson said in a statement to Axios at the time.

In the days following the school shooting, many have called for a boycott of companies that do business with the National Rifle Association (NRA). ThinkProgress even listed a group of companies that gave special discounts and deals to NRA members, and that spurred the hashtag #BoycottNRA to explode on social media. As a result, United and Delta airlines, Metlife and six car rental brands have pulled discount deals they used to offer to NRA members, while the First National Bank of Omaha announced it will stop issuing an NRA-branded Visa card.