PHOENIX, AZ – McMillan Group International, McMillan Fiberglass Stocks, and McMillan Firearms have been banking with Bank of America for 12 years… but no more. In what was first thought to be a routine “account analysis” meeting, the firearms manufacturer was told that Bank of America no longer wants its business.
Operations director Kelly McMillan says his company has been nothing but the kind of client the bank should desire. According to him, McMillan has never been late on a payment, has an outstanding debt on it line of credit at just 61%, and has never once bounced a check. In spite of this, at the bank’s request, the McMillan group of companies will soon be paying off its credit line and closing all accounts.
Kelly McMillan took the company’s story directly to its customers through its Facebook page. Writing there this past Thursday, he detailed the account of a meeting in his office with Ray Fox, a business banking senior vice-president with the banking giant.
The Bank of America representative, he said, “spent 5 minutes talking about how McMillan has changed in the last 5 years and has become more of a firearms manufacturer than a supplier of accessories.”
“At this point I interrupted him,” McMillan said, and asked, “Can I possibly save you some time so that you don’t waste your breath? What you are going to tell me is that because we are in the firearms manufacturing business you no longer what my business.”
Fox’s reply was simply, “That is correct.”
McMillan told the bank executive that he planned to tell the National Rifle Association, Safari Club International, and his other gun-loving friends “that Bank of America is not firearms-industry-friendly.”
“You have to do what you must” was Fox’s reply, “We have to assess the risk of doing business with a firearms related industry.”
The McMillan group of companies may have the last word in the matter: It is considering no longer accepting Bank of America credit cards for purchases. A representative posted the following on the company’s Facebook page:
I just want to let everyone know we will post here and on our website which bank we finally choose as our bank. We have had a large number of banks that have expressed an interest in being our bank of choice. You can rest assured that we will pick the appropriate bank and that they will be clear about their support of our 2nd Amendment rights and the firearms industry in general.
Many of you may have seen BofA’s official position. Frankly it doesn’t surprise me. It hurts some for others to claim that I am dishonest and that what I posted didn’t happen, but it doesn’t surprise me. I haven’t made any claims about what their policy is, I haven’t even made any speculation. I just reported the events which took place in my office.
I am in the process of checking with my merchant services provider to find out whether or not I will be able to discontinue taking BofA credit cards for payment. It has been mentioned that my contract with Visa and MasterCard may prevent me from doing so. Either way I will let everyone know when I get the news.
I remember a saying I have heard most of my life, if you tell the truth you don’t have to have a good memory. Rest assured my story won’t change. I might get better at typing and proof reading, God knows I need that, but the story remains the same.