Gun Maker Claims Bank of America Froze Account Over Online Firearm Sales

An American gun manufacturer claims Bank of America froze his account over objections to his company selling arms online. So far, it's a one-sided story on Facebook which quotes a bank manager saying, "We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet."

According to a post by American Spirit Arms owner Joe Sirochman, because of a 500 percent surge in gun purchases his e-commerce website has been "processing larger deposits to Bank of America . . . So they decided to hold the deposits for further review."

American Spirit Arms most likely benefitted as gun shops and gun shows across the U.S. saw a recent surge of people seeking ammunition and high-power assault weapons, triggered by fears that certain guns will be banned and ammunition heavily taxed in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

"As you could imagine this made me furious," Sirochman said in his Facebook post. "After countless hours on the phone with Bank of America I finally got a Manager in the right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on hold for further review, . . . Her exact words were…'We Believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the internet.'"

Sirochman continued: "I flipped the f**k out and told them that they have no right to make up their own new rules and regs . . . We are a firearms manufacturer with all the proper licensing FFL (Federal Firearm license), and that we follow all Federal and All States’ rules and regulations on shipping firearms and parts and that we are also Audited by ATF and Homeland."

Following his heated response, Sirochman said a second manager joined the conversation and agreed to release some of the disputed funds.

Bank of America has yet to release a statement about the controversy.

Claiming to have been a Bank of America customer for 10 years, Sirochman says he is now looking for a new bank.

This isn't the first time Bank of America has reportedly targeted a client in the firearms industry.

According to a post by McMillan Group International on its official Facebook page, in April of 2012 Bank of America officials allegedly told the company, "We must finalize all of our accounts because we manufacture firearms."

As with the claim by American Spirit Arms, Bank of America did not respond to the claim made by McMillan Group International.