GE Capital Cuts Off Lending to Gun Shops

Dont Taz Me Bro · 2013-04-25T13:12:52+00:00

I have a credit card through GE Capital which I will be cancelling when I get home from work. General Electric is quietly cutting off lending to gun shops, as the company rethinks its relationship to firearms amid the fallout from the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. This month, Glenn Duncan, owner of Duncan's Outdoor Store in Bay City, Mich., said he received a letter from GE Capital Retail Bank in which the lender said it had made "the difficult decision" to stop providing financing services to his store. Other gun dealers have received similar notices. "Industry changes, new legislation and tragic events" led GE Capital to reexamine its policies on financing firearms, spokesman Russell Wilkerson said. The company's exit has little overall impact in a U.S. gun market, where sales last year totaled $11.7 billion, according to IBIS World. While a typical handgun can cost more than $300, financing remains a marginal activity. GE's ban applies only to retailers whose sole business is selling firearms, an "insignificant and immaterial" part of GE Capital's business, Mr. Wilkerson said. The lender is still doing business with merchants with more diverse lines of business [e.g., Wal-Mart, Dick's Sporting Goods] Daily Kos: GE Capital Cuts Off Lending to Gun Shops