April 23, 2012
By Ben OBrien
Bank of America told McMillan Group International the corporation responsible for McMillan Fiberglass Stocks and McMillan Firearms Manufacturing late last week that their business was no longer welcome with the nation's leading financial institution.
Director of Operations Kelly D. McMillan said his company had been doing business with Bank of America for the last 12 years and has never been late on a payment or bounced a check. The debt outstanding on the company's line of credit was at 61 percent as of Friday.
What could be the reason for Bank of America to make such a move? The answer: McMillan makes guns.
Bank of America, a company that received $20 billion in the federal bailout from the U.S. government in 2009, has been rumored to have anti-gun business policies for years. The National Rifle Association (NRA) launched an investigation in 2010 after "information from a few members surfaced detailing some problems that firearm-related businesses were having with Bank of America."
Advertisement
It appeared back then that BoA was denying banking services to businesses that were associated with guns, but Senior Vice President Douglas K. Bland told NRA-ILA in a written statement that "Bank of America does not have a corporate-wide policy to deny banking services solely on the applicant's involvement in the firearms industry."
In a statement on the company's Facebook page last Friday, McMillan says otherwise.
During an "account analysis" meeting with a BoA Senior Vice President, Ray Fox, McMillan began to become suspicious that the meeting was more than it appeared.
Advertisement
"[Fox] spent 5 minutes talking about how McMillan has changed in the last 5 years and have become more of a firearms manufacturer than a supplier of accessories," McMillan wrote. "At this point I interrupted him and asked 'Can I possible save you some time so that you don't waste your breath? What you are going to tell me is that because we are in the firearms manufacturing business you no longer want my business.'"
Fox confirmed to McMillan that he was correct and the decision was politically motivated. The enraged firearms executive took to social media to let the world know about what happened, and the story began to spread.
Not only is McMillan's company cutting all ties to Bo they are no longer accepting their credit cards from customers Second Amendment advocates from around the country have stepped up to do the same.
Only five hours ago, Kelly McMillan took to Facebook again to thank everyone for the support and encourage followers to keep the cause alive. He wrote:
Please don't wake up tomorrow and forget this. Don't forget to follow through and let this fade into obscurity as so many "causes" do. I haven't asked anyone to close any accounts or credit cards. If that is how you fight this war, then great. But even if you don't, find a way to make sure that every time our 2nd Amendment rights are challenged, you become a soldier and do what you can to make sure we defend our rights.
