Posted on 06/28/2014 9:27:56 AM PDT by george76
Tactical Firearms is appealing to the public for help fighting what it claims is a politically motivated problem with its bank.
The Katy, Texas, gun store has made a national name for itself by posting snarky political signs – mostly opposing liberal gun-grabbers and Obama – on its outdoor marquee.
BizPac Review has reported on several of the good-humored signs in the past, but it seems there’s not a lot to laugh about these days, according to the company’s web site and newsletter. The lengthy plea claims that the bank has called in on a loan that could put the store out of business
(Excerpt) Read more at bizpacreview.com ...
All they need to do is go into a Federal court and proclaim that they are “gay”. The court will put a boot in the bank’s ass.
The bank website invites comments. So call them with a comment.
https://www.iconbanktx.com/ContactUs.aspx
CHANGE BANKS. Problem solved.
>> the bank’s excuse to us for calling in the loan is because the “government does not support loans to the gun, alcohol, or hotel industries” and the banks get heavily audited.
There’s a lawsuit
Surely there is one multi millionaire conservative that will take on their receivables and act as a private bank... good money for everyone circumventing the federal squeeze play... You’d think S&W , RGR and Colt would create something along those lines for their customers.
Holder’s Operation ‘Choke Point’ in action.
Note the weird headline:
“backlash from bank could shut them down”
Since when do banks consider political speech something that they should respond to with “backlash”?
The bank was never mentioned before they called in the loan.
why should a bank, whose sole business is storing and moving money, care about what the owner of the account is doing with the money?
if the account holder is doing something illegal, that’s a job for police. they can catch the crooks in the act. why should the bank pose as a govt snitch? does the bank get paid by the govt for all that effort?
accounts should be just id numbers with passwords/phrases.
Maybe one of their “snarky” signs should mention this bank.
Holder has declared firearms dealers at risk companies. There will be no other banks. Gun dealers and manufacturers are going to need to form their own credit unions.
I read that the Federal Reserve is going to refuse to loan money to banks that loan money to the gun industry.
Does the loan contract allow for capricious calls?
Crowd fund a case and campaign against the bank if the call is politically motivated.
Needs more snark.
under what pretense?
we cannot refuse service to people whose practices are abhorrent to us... yet they can refuse service for politically purposes?
yea....
I admire his outspoken gutsiness, but he should have seen this coming from the start. I’m very surprised it took this long. That is how this petty, peevish President operates.The Gun Shop owner must have known about Operation Choke Point, which has been harassing certain businesses for the past three years starting with Gibson’s Guitars, which supposedly used wood from endangered trees. The fact that Gibson’s owner gave heavily to the Romney campaign is just a coincidence, right?
Copied from another site, but is authentic...
Response by Mark Evans to Tactical Firearms Letter of June 20, 2014 First of all, I want to make it clear that my response below is made only on behalf of myself and my firearms store in far northwest Houston. While I serve on the Board of Directors for Icon Bank of Texas, N.A., I am not authorized to speak on their behalf and they have legal counsel who will assist them in that regard.
Next, I would like to apologize to my colleague of the same name, Mark Evans, whom I believe is a lawyer for Bracewell & Giuliani, and whose title and email address and phone number were listed in Jeremy Alcede’s letter. Perhaps a Google search gone wrong, but certainly in line with the problems Mr. Alcede has with the facts. Finally, to all the customers of Tactical Firearms who have sent me messages at Jeremy’s behest, I understand and applaud your customer loyalty. You saw a passionate appeal by a business owner in your community that claimed to be under attack by President Obama and a local community bank and an evil attorney, and many of you decided to help him out by sending emails or letters, or making phone calls, to me or the bank or the attorney general, or the incorrect persons and emails listed in Jeremy’s letter.
Remember, there are always two sides to every story, and sometimes more, and while I realize that many of you took Jeremy at his word and not knowing me, or the bank, or my law firm, or my gun store, you assumed he was being truthful in his assertions.
So let me encourage you to do some research on your own. I am confident that if you read documents recorded in the public records, including the Harris County District Clerk’s web site, and speak to any of the several dozen former employees (and a few current employees), you will get a much more accurate picture of Jeremy and his business operations. I found it fairly ironic that he began his letter talking about how Tactical prides itself in being honest with its customers. After that opening sentence, there are misstatements of fact throughout his letter. The facts about his foreclosure are in the public record now, if you want to examine foreclosure or lien documents recorded in connection with his loans.
Banks are held in the same low regard as gun stores by the current administration and many in Congress, and their actions are so closely scrutinized by various government agencies, that it would be ludicrous for them to target a gun store or any type of customer and try to put them out of business. He says the board of directors chose not to renew the loan, and this is also not true, but I will attribute it to a lack of knowledge of the banking industry.
Bank boards do not make decisions on foreclosures. They entrust bank management to that task, and while I was not involved in this particular bank’s decision making process, I can tell you that banks in general DO NOT WANT TO FORECLOSE ON REAL ESTATE OR OTHER ASSETS OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. Banks are in the business of earning fees and interest income on their loans, and not in the business of owning real estate, or equipment or inventory.
In fact, the government regulators consider it a bad thing when banks start having too many OREO properties (Other Real Estate Owned, the name for foreclosed properties taken back by banks), and banks feel the pressure to sell those properties as soon as possible and get back to the business of lending and deposits.
As to the claims of anti-trust violations by me, I never met Jeremy while I was a customer at his store, but I assume that he gathered information about me and created this conspiracy theory that I am working in conjunction with my law firm, my bank, his business partner, and I guess President Obama, to specifically target him and put him out of business. I don’t consider his store a competitor of mine. We have a small new shop in far Northwest Houston, nowhere near his Katy store, and we don’t have a range operation or sell the level of inventory he claims to sell. No comparison can be made, and I certainly am not involved with any of these parties in an attempt to drive him out of business. In fact, as a bank shareholder, I am much more likely to lose money in the form of share value reduction when loans do not pay as agreed and management has to move forward with foreclosure procedures. Most banks end up losing money when this happens.
There are several other Katy area gun stores who may benefit if Tactical closes, but I don’t expect we will benefit much some 20 to 30 miles away. In my experience, most firearms customers shop within a few miles of their homes. To lump us in with Obama was a smoke screen that Jeremy apparently threw up to hide the truth about his business practices and current situation, and I don’t know if he thought it might actually help get him some grass roots support that might lead to finding a white knight investor to help him, or if he just decided he wanted to strike out at third parties and take other people down with him.
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