Bank of America

Responsible Firearms Ownership and 2nd Amendment Issues

                 Bank of America Will No Longer
     Refuse Merchant Services Applications from the Gun
                                 Industry.

by T. Mark Graham
(05-03-01)
Its been less than a week. A very busy forty hours as tens of thousands of people have received,
written and forwarded e-mails and e-mail links to this page and my dispute with BofA. In 40
hours I got calls from several newspapers from Oregon to Florida, several national gun
magazines and local and national talk radio shows. 40 hours of irate gun owners and
second-amendment supporters canceling their BofA credit cards, checking, and savings
accounts; writing angry letters and making phone calls. Just 40 hours as some of the 83 million
law-abiding gun owners expressed their outrage at such blatant discrimination. 40 hours to make
the Bank of America behemoth jump!

I received a call at 10 AM this morning (5-3-01) , from Loraine Stinmel at Bank of America.
She informed me that BofA is now drafting a new policy letter to the effect of "We do not as a
policy discourage any merchant selling firearms from submitting an application for
merchant services with us . . . we will not decline an application based on the gun industry
itself." Who was responsible for the definitive statement "Bank of America does not offer
merchant services to the gun industry," that Daniel (just following guidance from his superiors)
used as a basis for refusing my application? BofA isn't saying. Loraine could only say "If we did
this in the past, why? It doesn't make sense. . . We are not quite sure why this policy was
distributed."

Whether it was an official national change to the Merchant Services Policy, as BofA told me, or
an unwritten national corporate policy, or a BofA Arizona regional policy, or the individual
prejudice of someone relatively high up in the BofA Arizona hierarchy, we may never know.

I do know is that this a great victory for gun owners!

1. Bank of America will not discriminate against the gun industry (either because its wrong, or
because it hurts them financially - you decide).

2. Other businesses will take heed of the incredible influence of gun owners as a consumer
block.

3. Gun owners got to see how fast their network of like-minded Americans can force change in
even a huge corporation like BofA.

I have learned an important lessons that may be of value to other activists. Once I sent the first
e-mail, it gained a life of its own - and I could not call it back. Passionate gun owners passed
the message on to their networks with their own editorial comments. When further spread, the
line between my original statements and the comments of people forwarding it became blurred.
Some would only cut and paste what they considered the most important parts of my original
message. Quickly, hundreds of versions of my message were out there. SINCE WE ARE THE
GOOD GUYS - its absolutely imperative that activist notifications be accurate beyond
reproach. If the anti-freedom pundits can find one minor technical error, they can capitalize on it
and shed doubt on the accuracy of the entire message. While in my specific issue, I have not
seen any messages coming back to me with bad information, I quickly realized the potential for
problems. Thus this page of my website. I encourage others with activist issues to have a single,
constantly-updated source that people can refer to both to verify that its not an internet hoax, and
to obtain the most up-to-date information. Insure that a link to that webpage is included in all
forwarded e-mails. I consider it a testament to the integrity of the gun culture that I received so
many requests for authentication before the people were willing to take action or forward the
message. Thank you. Thank you all for such incredible support.

A few issues still remain unresolved. At the time of this writing, I have not received a written
copy of the new policy statement. I also have not learned who was responsible for the previous
policy and if it was an individual, if there will be any disciplinary action.

Who is Next?

(05-03-01)
Who is next? Airborne Express will not ship any firearms or firearms related products. I opened
my Airborne Express account when UPS - unable to keep their employees from stealing guns -
required all handgun shipments to go by Next Day Air at a 400+% price increase. Several
months later, I learned that Airborne Express banned all guns and gun related products.
Ironically, I received a query from ABNEX corporate office as to why I stopped shipping with
them. When I advised them of their blatant discrimination against one of the most highly
regulated industries in the country, I got some cheesy form letter back saying they would "take
my comments into consideration."

Activism is a full-time job. I lost a week of work pursuing the BofA issue. I just don't have the
time right now to go after Airborne Express. The $6000-$8000 I spend each year on out-going
freight goes with other companies instead. Maybe Airborne Express needs a reminder of what a
huge market share they lost and how simple it would be to regain it?

Should the Gun Industry Boycott Bank of America ?

(04-27-01, updated 05-02-01)

The following is a summary of my recent experiences with Bank of America. I started with an
e-mail, but have had dozens of calls from newspapers and individuals wishing to verify the
accuracy of the e-mail before publishing or forwarding the information. Therefore, I am posting
all of the pertinent information to my website, which will be updated on a continuous basis.

My name is T. Mark Graham. I am a gunsmith and owner of Arizona Response Systems. I have a
small shop that does general gunsmithing, refinishing and restoration, and law enforcement
upgrades. I also write technical manuals on firearm repair and produce some gunsmithing
videos. I have been a professional gunsmith for over ten years.

I was dissatisfied with the high discount rate of my current credit card processing company and
discussed it with an officer of Bank of America Arizona, at the Desert Sky Branch. I have a
good relationship with several of the officers and met with Robin, the new branch manager to
apply for merchant services. After two weeks with no answer, I met with Robin again and she
said she's check up on it. After two more weeks with no response, on Friday, April 27, I met
with Robin again. She informed me that "they" said "they " had called and left a message on my
answering machine ["they" had not] and that "Bank of America does not provide merchant
services for the gun industry." Since the decision was above her head, I saw no value in
huffing and puffing at her branch, but did inform her that I was dissatisfied with the answer and
was going to pursue the issue. The meeting generated the following e-mail which I sent to my
political action list and some friends around the country.

Should the Firearms Industry Boycott Bank of America?

My name is T. Mark Graham and I have been a customer in good standing with Bank of America
(BofA CA, BofA TX, BofA AZ) for 17 years. I have held Visas, Master Cards, Credit Lines, a
Home Loan, and Personal and Business Checking Accounts. In April of 2001, I applied with
Bank of America (Phoenix, Desert Sky) to transfer my Gunsmithing Business' Credit Card
Processing from an independent company to Bank of America, where all my other accounts are
held. Bank of America declined me.

Was it because I was a credit risk? No, I have a 5+ year excellent track record with my current
processing company, and outstanding credit.

Was it because I'm a racial minority? No, I'm not - and its illegal to discriminate on basis of
race.

Was it because I'm of an obscure religious cult? No, I'm not - and it is illegal to discriminate on
the basis of religion.

Was it because of my sexual preferences? No, - it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of
sexual preference.

Was it because I'm female? No, I'm not - and it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex.

It was because I'm a gunsmith. A professional in a centuries old legal craft. "Bank of America
does not provide merchant services to the gun industry."

I'm also a Libertarian and believe that any business should (current Civil Rights Laws
notwithstanding) be able to do business or NOT do business with whomever they please and for
whatever reason or no reason. I question whether a corporation, with government granted
immunities and government insured, should be able to discriminate. Something about equal
protection. However I'm also a free-market capitalist and think this information may be of
interest to others in the gun industry when they consider which financial institution deserves
their patronage. I am actively seeking a Phoenix financial institution that does not spit on our
constitution, and our freedom, by denying services to the vary people who secure their rights.

Please forward this information as you deem appropriate and thank you for your time.

I have made several more calls attempting to confirm this policy. I have a copy of a Bank of
America document titled "Merchant Services Account Qualification." It identifies certain types
of businesses, that due to their statistically higher "risks of chargeback activity and loss
potential" are ineligible for BofA merchant services accounts. Some examples are adult
entertainment, escort/dating services, multi-level marketing, gambling/lotteries, collection
agencies, bail and bond payment agencies, and several others. Gun businesses are NOT listed,
which makes sense as the gun owners are statistically more affluent and educated than the
average American.

My calls on Monday, April 30, led me through the BofA Small Market Acquisition Department
and California [!] Merchant Services to Daniel Schulman, Commercial Services Executive
Sales Representative for Arizona. A supervisor at Merchant services informed me that Daniel
was the one assigned to my application [I later learned that BofA calls this preliminary
application a referral and the follow-up document the "application"] and the one who rejected
it. The following is a condensed transcript of our conversation.

MARK GRAHAM: Hello.

DANIEL SCHULMAN: Hi Mark.

M: Okay, it took me a while to track this down, but you are listed as the sales representative
who declined my merchant account application, the reason given Bank of America does not
provide merchant services to the gun industry. . . . So what I'm trying to determine is - the branch
manager tells me that they said that we don't do this type of business and is unable to tell me
who "they" is.

D: Well it's conceivable she could have spoken with me and I would have said that it's true,
when we receive applications for these types of businesses we do not approve them. That's
absolutely accurate.

M: Okay.

D: Now what I can say that I've received from Robin at your local branch is a referral [note: I
had not revealed the name of my local branch manager, therefore, Daniel must have been
intimately familiar with my case beforehand]. 8 x 11 completed referral, giving me basic
information about your business.

M: Okay.

D: Upon receiving it, I informed her that we don't approve these types of businesses . . .

M: Okay. Are you aware of a document that Bank of America produces called Merchant
Services Account Qualification?

D: Not this specific document or I may have seen it at one time or another --

M: Okay, it lists eligible merchants and ineligible merchants.

D: Mmm-hmmm.

M: And I was wondering if you could point out where on this list the gun industry comes,
because -

D: The gun industry until the past probably month and a half, two months was never on our
ineligible list actually and only recently has the new risk management that's moved into
place disallowed guns and ammunition from the accounts that we approve[emphasis added].
So it wouldn't have even be three or four months ago believe it or not that it would have been
something that we work with. So it probably has not been updated onto our collaterals that
would be distributed.

M: Okay, can you send me something in writing stating that it is Bank of America's policy to not
approve firearms-related industries?

D: I think I can probably come up with that.

M: Okay. Also what I'm wondering is are you going to be canceling the accounts that you
already have?

D: What accounts do we have, Mark?

M: For gun businesses.

D: Hmmm. I don't know.

M: I have been in contact with - I got his name written down here somewhere who runs the
eastside of Phoenix, but is running West side now while someone else is on vacation. And he's
got several gun businesses.

D: Yeah we used to approve them, it's true. So do I. I have gun businesses on the books myself.
Like I said, this is a recent policy that's been put into place.

M: Okay, because I'm trying to track where the policy is coming from and, you know, because I
was invited on Sunday to participate in a national radio talk show in reference to this, but I
thought it best that I give Bank of America opportunity to clarify before the substantial loss of
business that this policy will create.

D: Right. Well I have no problem trying to produce that. To be honest, I'm not too concerned
about the potential loss of business. You know, all that's been taken into account by the
people that actually put together our new log, guidelines. [emphasis added]

M: Okay.

D: You know, I don't mind trying to dig this up for you as a favor to you.

M: Well what I'm trying to get is something in writing because I'm sure you know your job, but if
you are perhaps misunderstanding a guidance from somewhere else then it would be unfair for
me to start bashing Bank of America if in fact the facts aren't straight.

D: Yeah, I totally agree with you. I got no problem trying to pull something like that together.

Please forward a link to this page as you deem fit. If you wish to use only a portion of this page,
please include a link as well so the recipient can find any updated information and verify the
accuracy. http://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/bofa.htm.

I'd like to find some way to tally the effect this BofA policy decision is going to have on Bank of
America, both financially and on public relations. Should you decide to close an account with
BofA, or cancel a credit card, please send me an e-mail (click on mail below) with the account
number (only AFTER its closed) or any other anecdotal information. I will consolidate this
information and make it available to BofA. Perhaps the loss of a few hundred million dollars in
business will convince BofA that their new policy is not only unfair, but a very poor business
decision. Citibank learned the hard way last year.