Dr. Mehmet Oz to Newsmax: Law-Abiding Americans Should Buy 'Gun of Their Choice'

Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz told Newsmax he strongly supports the second amendment, and Americans should be able to buy the "gun of their choice."

"I'm strongly in favor of the ability of all law-abiding American citizens to own a gun of their choice," Dr. Oz told Monday's "Eric Bolling The Balance." "The concern I have about these kinds of extracurricular efforts is that they undermine the rule of law. If we decide, as a nation, that we want to go to a particular direction, you don't want to have activists, lawyers working behind the scenes to thwart that desire."

The candidate was reacting to a CBS News report Monday that New York-based Amalgamated Bank is being blocked by major credit card companies for wanting to track firearm and ammunition sales by establishing a separate category for them.

According to the report, the bank applied to major credit card processing companies including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, in 2021 to have such purchases assigned into a separate category, but the applications to the International Standards Organization was twice denied, partly due to the recommendation of its committee members, who were also credit card company employees.

"So much illegal gun activity depends on your ability to use the financial system to buy the guns," Priscilla Sims Brown, the CEO of Amalgamated Bank told CBS News chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod in an exclusive interview.

Sims Brown, who heads the 100-year-old financial institution considered to be the oldest "socially responsible" bank in the country, said the application was made because of the spate of mass shootings in recent years.

"If the country wants to move in a particular direction on the second amendment, it should be done through Congress, through legislative efforts – not because you're coercing credit card companies, or other entities, to move in a particular direction," Dr. Oz said. "It's just not how democracy is supposed to work."

Dr. Oz, who is endorsed in the race by former President Donald Trump, will take on Democrat candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the November general election.

Fetterman is currently leading in the race by nine percentage points, 46-37%, according to USA Today/Suffolk University polling, Business Insider reported Saturday.

Fetterman held that 9-point edge with 13% of those polled still undecided.

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