West Virginia Probe Forces BILL to Reverse Firearm Debanking
An ammunition manufacturer in Kearneysville, West Virginia, is getting its payment processing back after a state investigation, and the reversal follows a pattern the firearm industry has watched play out at company after company, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
What Happened to Kent Cartridge
NSSF member Kent Cartridge Company was denied payment-processing services by two providers, BILL and Ramp, NSSF reported. According to communications Kent Cartridge provided, BILL and Ramp separately cited “compliance and underwriting restrictions” and “restrictions from our partners” as their reasons. BILL had also listed the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition within a restricted business category.
NSSF exposed the denials in July. West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey took notice and opened an investigation into whether the companies’ actions violated the state’s Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act.
BILL is now providing services to Kent Cartridge, and the companies involved have assured McCuskey they do not discriminate against lawful firearm businesses, per NSSF.
The FIND Act’s Line
The NSSF-supported FIND Act bars financial institutions that do business or contract with West Virginia from discriminating against firearm entities or trade associations for engaging in lawful commerce involving firearms, accessories or ammunition.
The law does not require institutions to ignore legitimate business or financial risks. It draws a distinction: a blanket policy refusing service to firearm entities does not qualify as a “business or financial reason” justifying discrimination. Financial institutions can still make legitimate business decisions, but they cannot deny an entire lawful industry over political objections to its products.
West Virginia backs the principle with teeth. Government entities generally cannot contract with financial institutions that discriminate against firearm businesses, and the law provides civil remedies for violations.
A Familiar Sequence
Kent Cartridge is the latest in a run of reversals NSSF has documented. Circle Internet Group, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, previously prohibited customers from using USDC to buy firearms, ammunition and related products. After NSSF exposed the restriction, Circle rewrote its terms and confirmed USDC could be used for lawful firearm transactions, according to NSSF.
Stripe long barred firearm-related businesses outright, then moved them from its prohibited category to a restricted one that allows firms to seek services subject to additional review. Citigroup reversed its firearm industry policy in 2025, and NSSF has documented similar changes at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
The sequence repeats: a firearm or ammunition business gets singled out, the discrimination is exposed, regulators, lawmakers or customers start asking questions, and policies that were supposedly necessary become negotiable, rewritten or abandoned.
Federal Pressure Mounting
The firearm industry operates under some of the heaviest regulation in the country. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulates the manufacture, distribution and retail sale of firearms, with extensive federal licensing, recordkeeping and transfer requirements.
The Trump administration has pushed against debanking. President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14331, “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” directed federal regulators to eliminate “reputational risk” and similar concepts used to justify politicized debanking. Federal banking regulators have since taken additional steps to remove reputational-risk considerations from supervision.
The Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found in its review of large banks that institutions had made “inappropriate distinctions” among customers based on lawful business activities, including firearm-related businesses, per NSSF.
For NSSF, the Kent Cartridge outcome is both a victory and a warning. McCuskey has made clear West Virginia will enforce its protections when necessary. As NSSF put it, the firearm industry “isn’t asking for special treatment. It is demanding equal treatment.”
The post West Virginia Probe Forces BILL to Reverse Firearm Debanking appeared first on AllOutdoor.com.