Fear & Loading: Citi Excludes Guns, Ammo From New Credit Card Protection Policy

Effective July 29, Citi will no longer cover firearm or ammunition purchases under its credit card purchase protection program. The previous policy, which went into effect May 15, 2016, didn’t include the gun-related exclusion.

The new terms explain [PDF, page 26]—under the “Damage & Theft Purchase Protection” clause—a variety of products and services that do not qualify for reimbursement.  “Firearms or ammunition” are last on the list. The words were not included in the previous version [PDF, page  22].

                                                

Guns and fodder are also no longer covered by the financial firm’s “90 Day Return Protection” [page 32] for its credit card users, another change from the previous document [pages 27 and 28]. The same words have also been inserted in the “Price Rewind” section.

Reader and former U.S. Marine Corps sniper Bernie Oliver brought the changes to our attention. He considered the previous coverage valuable, partly due to return policies that vary wildly between sporting goods stores.  

The anti-Second Amendment policy is nothing new for the firm. On March 22 Citigroup announced a “U.S. Commercial Firearms Policy,” in which it dictated that its clients not sell “… bump stocks or high-capacity magazines … ” In addition, only customers 21 or older can purchase a firearm in stores using its services. 

Citi isn’t the only financial institution applying economic clout to leverage its morals, though. Bank of America announced in April that makers of modern sporting rifles would no longer qualify for loans from the company. The world’s largest asset investment firm, BlackRock, challenged publicly traded gun companies to explain how they monitor their product’s use/safety earlier this year—forcing a response from American Outdoor Brands and others at the implied threat. More recently, a proposal passed at Ruger’s annual meeting of stockholders, prompting this response from the famed firm.