In layman’s terms: Citigroup changed its banking policies to no longer discriminate against the sale of legal firearms or accessories.
On June 3, Citigroup, a major American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City, bowed to political pressure that likely came from one of President Trump’s recent Executive Orders and reversed a policy that discriminated against gun owners.
Citi issued a memo citing a significant policy shift, scrapping its 2018 U.S. Commercial Firearms Policy that restricted banking services to retail clients selling firearms. Citi’s policy was highly politically motivated against gun owners and ultimately chilled a Constitutional right, but was slyly framed as a risk management measure:
“The policy was intended to promote the adoption of best sales practices as prudent risk management and didn’t address the manufacturing of firearms,” stated the recent memo.
Citi announced that it also codified into its Code of Conduct and Global Financial Access Policy to prohibit discrimination based on political affiliation explicitly. The memo expressly states, “We also will no longer have a specific policy as it relates to firearms.”
The 2018 policy required retail clients to adhere to specific firearm sales practices, such as restricting sales to individuals under 21 and prohibiting the sale of then-legal bump stocks or “high-capacity” magazines.
In its memo, Citi cites reasons for the change, including “…following regulatory developments, recent Executive Orders and federal legislation that impact this area.”
Although President Trump also signed an order regarding Protecting the Second Amendment, Citi’s actions likely stemmed from Executive Order 14178, titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” issued on January 23, 2025, which includes a policy to “protect and promote fair and open access to banking services for all law-abiding individual citizens and private-sector entities alike.”
Both the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) went to bat for gun owners, attacking the unethical practice that unfairly targeted lawful businesses and products.
GOA Executive Director Erich Pratt stated in 2018 that Citi’s policy threatened Constitutional rights and urged its 1.5 million members to petition lawmakers against it.
The Second Amendment Foundation, which had been fighting a similar policy since 2000, also condemned Citi’s actions. “This is a sweet victory for all law-abiding gun owners across the country,” proclaimed Alan Gottlieb, Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF). “It ends more than a decade of silent discrimination, and I couldn’t be more pleased.”
