LAS VEGAS—Banks engaging in “woke capitalism” to withhold financial services to firearms manufactures will not be tolerated in their states, seven Republican governors said during a Jan. 18 forum.
“I’m not going to let some banks or processing companies discriminate in our state,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt told the forum at the Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, noting he’s confident that lawmakers will adopt a bill this year prohibiting his state from contracting with financial services companies that impose restrictions on transactions involving the firearms and ammunition industries.
The bill named some of the largest banks in the nation as engaging in discriminatory practices against firearms businesses: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, PNC, and Goldman Sachs, as well as PayPal and the General Electric Credit Union.
The 2022 measure died in the Senate. Stitt predicted it would pass this year, confident that Oklahoma lawmakers are “not going to allow wokeness [to] trample our freedoms.”
The seven governors touted their states’ laws and business environments for luring gunmakers from states where anti-firearms sentiment has fostered a combative—and costly—regulatory environment.
