A year ago I wrote about how the government could be using various programs to prevent businesses that sell firearms from functioning. A recent story by Kelsey Harkness illustrates how that may be happening. She tells the story of Luke Lichterman, owner of Hunting and Defense in North Carolina.

He was denied access to a bank merely because he sells firearms. He blamed a little-known program called Operation Choke Point, which was launched a few years ago by the Department of Justice in an effort to fight fraud. It does so by choking off access
to various bank services. Critics have said that the program not only hurts illegal businesses, but has also been used against legal industries (like gun sellers) that this administration doesn’t like.

Back in March, HomeTrust Bank told Lichterman that they would not allow him to open an automatic clearinghouse payment service for his online gun and tactical store. This was a surprise to him since he has personal account at HomeTrust Bank. It wasn’t until a banker discovered that he sold guns that they refused to offer him the services he needed for his business.

Lichterman was suspicious of why he was denied services and asked if the banker could provide an example of another industry that HomeTrust Bank wouldn’t do business with. The banker responded, “Pornography.” Lichterman tried to explain to the banker that he was not a pornographer but actually dealing with constitutionally protected goods.

By the way, the banker wasn’t kidding. If you look at the guidelines for Operation Choke Point, there is a list of categories of merchants that the agency considers high risk. The list includes words like “firearms” and “ammunition” and “pornography.”

Because of the publicity in this case, the bank did provide Lichterman with the services he requested. The story does illustrate why some members of Congress want to end Operation Choke Point and other similar initiatives. This story shows why the program could be a threat to the Second Amendment.