In response to a Congressional request for clarification, the Trump administration said Wednesday that Barack Obama‘s anti-firearms business initiative, Operation Choke Point, was over.
“All of the department’s bank investigations conducted as part of Operation Chokepoint are now over, the initiative is no longer in effect, and it will not be undertaken again,” Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote in a letter to Republican congressmen.
The letter was a response to a letter written to Attorney General Jeff Session last week asking for confirmation that the program had been shut down.
Obama’s program made it difficult for firearms manufacturers and retailers to get access to capital. The operation forced many finance companies and credit card underwriters to label any in the firearms business as “high-risk.” GE Capital canceled a program in 2014 that allowed firearms retailers to offer purchase financing like “90-days same as cash” programs. Only niche credit card processors would handle transactions for firearms businesses after Obama initiated Operation Choke Point.
