The Lone Star State will not tolerate Citigroup’s discriminatory practices against the firearms sector.
On January 18, 2023, the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared that the banking giant had discriminated against the firearms sector in violation of SB 19, the Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act. SB 19 was signed into law in 2021, which mandates corporations vying for municipal contracts in Texas to demonstrate that they do not discriminate against legally-operated firearm enterprises.
By violating SB 19, Citi will no longer be able to underwrite the majority of municipal bond offerings in the Lone Star state.
In an official letter published by Leslie Brock, assistant attorney general and chief of the public finance division, the Texas AG’s office laid out how Citi’s policy violated SB 19:
Citigroup has not been able to demonstrate that such policy is for any traditional business reason specific to the customer or potential customer and not based solely on an entity’s or association’s status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association.
The AG’s office detailed the course of action it will take in response to Citi’s violation of SB 19:
As such, we must reject Citigroup’s standing letter on file with this office. Therefore, until further notice, we will not approve any public security issued on or after today’s date in which Citigroup purchases or underwrites the public security, or in which Citigroup is otherwise a party to a covered contract relating to the public security.
The action the Texas AG’s office took was praised by firearms association group National Sports Shooting Foundation (NSSF).
NSSF highlighted several of Citi’s anti-gun policies that merited a firm response from red state governments.
“Their own website, however, demonstrates that the corporate bank refuses business with firearm businesses that do not comply with their unconstitutional restrictions,” the statement reads, noting that the bank requires things such as bump stock bans, age-based restrictions, and magazine restrictions.
Larry Keane, NSSF’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, praised Paxton for standing up for the firearms industry:
The firearm industry is grateful for Attorney General Paxton’s steadfast commitment to protecting the Second Amendment rights of Texans and his refusal to bow to the corporate ‘woke’ agendas that seek to eliminate the Constitutional rights of all Americans.
In an email statement to Reuters, a Citigroup spokesperson defended its policies and stressed that it was complying with state law:
Citi does not discriminate against the firearms sector and believe we are in compliance with Texas law.
The spokesperson stressed that Citi will be working with the Texas AG office to ensure future compliance.
Since the Parkland massacre of 2018 that resulted in the killing of 17 people in Parkland, Florida, companies such as Citi have imposed restrictions on new business clients that sell firearms. Chief among these restrictions was the requirement that these companies undergo background checks.
In response to the growing politicization of corporate America, Republican-controlled states have clamped down on financial institutions that have pursued environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. Many red states view these policies as subversive, culturally leftist practices that unnecessarily politicize the workplace and undermine the country’s economic vitality.
