
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr told Honor Defense the stateâs nondiscrimination act doesnât apply to Intuit or Stripe. (Photo: Chris Carr/Facebook)
Georgiaâs top law enforcement officials said they wonât prosecute credit card payment processors over policies restricting certain gun sales.
In a letter shared with Guns.com Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General David V. Carson said the stateâs Firearms Industry Nondiscrimination Act applies only to state or federally chartered banks â not âcheck sellers or money transmitters,â which adhere âto an entirely different regulatory scheme.â
âTherefore, the services Intuit and Stripe have refused to provide or continue to provide are not considered âfinancial servicesâ which would come under the purview of the Act,â he said.
Katie Byrd, spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Carr, said the stateâs hands are tied by the law, for now. âWhile the Attorney General is tasked with upholding current state law which does not provide authority for legal action as he stated in his letter, he would be supportive of changes should the Georgia General Assembly choose to take up this issue next session,â she said.
Carrâs office researched the issue at the request of Gary Ramey, president of Georgia-based Honor Defense, whoâs struggle began last year when Stripe refused to process online credit card sales for the federally licensed manufacturer. He switched to Intuit, until the company cut ties with Honor Defense in April after blaming its banking partners for the sudden enforcement of a similar policy.
Ramey told Guns.com Tuesday Carrâs ânarrowâ interpretation of the law makes little sense. âThey have told us in writing that their financial institutions are forcing them to do this,â he said. âI donât think itâs beyond the scope of the activity of the Attorney General to send a letter to Intuit. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is.â
Intuit gave Guns.com a similar explanation earlier this month after other gun dealers complained the company inexplicably reversed charges, leaving stores unpaid.
âOur company does NOT prohibit ANY of these regulated industries â including the firearms industry â from using QuickBooks for payment processing,â said Heather Mclellan, an Intuit spokeswoman. âIn fact, many do so today. However, for these transactions our bank partner requires them to be done face-to-face. To meet this requirement, our policy today requires the customer to be present to swipe their credit card.â
Ramey described Intuit as a âvictimâ in the whole debacle and worried about the impact of the policy on small businesses across the industry. âIt doesnât really affect Honor Defense that much. We are a manufacturer and we sell through distribution. We donât get that many orders from a customer calling on the phone,â he said. âBut a dealer? Well if they use Stripe or Intuit Quickbooks, they canât take that order.â
The industryâs largest trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, agrees the policies âgo too farâ and hopes Congress will intervene. âWhat if they donât want to take charges for gasoline because of global warming? Or soda because it causes obesity? There is no end to it,â said Larry Keane, NSSFâs vice president, in an interview with Guns.com earlier this month.
Lawmakers appear willing to step in, Keane said â especially after months of corporate backlash against the gun industry in the wake of the Parkland shooting. He described conversations between officials and the NSSF as âpositive.â
Ramey holds out hope, too. âBut really, this is about small business,â he said. âAnd that is why we havenât really let it die.â