Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke says banks and credit card companies are helping to enable the epidemic of mass shootings across the country.
O’Rourke in a Wednesday announcement urged banks and credit card companies to start refusing to provide services to some gun buyers and manufacturers, expanding on his sweeping gun reform proposals in the wake of mass shootings that have rocked the nation in recent weeks.
{mosads}The former congressman is urging the financial institutions to stop providing services for the sale of assault weapons.
He also is calling on banks to refuse their services for the sales of firearms online or at gun shows where background checks are not required, asking the services be suspended until universal background checks become law.
“However inadvertent or deliberate, credit card companies and banks profit off of those who terrorize our communities. And we know that in this moment, no one can sit on the sidelines. Everyone has a responsibility to do their part,” O’Rourke said in an email to supporters.
He asked supporters to sign a petition to call on banks to follow through with the requests he laid out.
The announcement follows O’Rourke’s previous rollout of gun control policies including passing universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons. He’s gone further than some of his fellow 2020 Democratic primary candidates in also calling for a gun licensing program and a mandatory gun buyback program.
O’Rourke’s call for banks to refuse services to some gun buyers comes after multiple mass shootings across the country, including two in his home state, one of which was in his hometown of El Paso.
The shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart last month left 22 people dead. O’Rourke took time off the campaign trail in the immediate aftermath of the shooting to remain in his El Paso community.