Here's a story that hits close to home for anyone running a gun shop. United Gun Shop in Maryland is suing Capital One and payment processor Melio after getting locked out of banking services they had been using without issue for months.
The timing is what really gets me. President Trump signed an executive order last August specifically aimed at stopping financial institutions from discriminating against gun shops and other lawful businesses based on political beliefs. Three days after that order, Melio told United Gun Shop their account was disabled because they were in a "restricted industry." That's not just insulting — it's potentially illegal.
The shop had been processing payments through Capital One's system since December 2024 with zero problems. Then suddenly in March 2025, everything stopped working. First they got told everything was fine by Capital One, then Melio contradicted that three days later. When they finally got a formal explanation, it basically said "your business is considered restricted."
The NRA's John Commerford put it right: companies that deliberately hinder the lawful commerce of firearm retailers need to be investigated and held accountable. I couldn't agree more.
This is exactly why we need strong protections for FFLs against this kind of deplatforming. Running a gun shop is legal. Serving customers who pass background checks is legal. And being denied basic banking services because some corporation doesn't like what we sell? That's not just wrong — it should have consequences.
Good for United Gun Shop for fighting back.