Ammo Maker Fights Back Against Debanking

Kent Cartridge Company got cut off by two payment processors for making ammunition. West Virginia's attorney general is now investigating both companies.

Driving the news: Bill.com and Ramp each separately told Kent Cartridge — a West Virginia-based shotgun shell manufacturer — that they couldn't process payments due to "compliance and underwriting restrictions" and "restrictions from our partners." The National Shooting Sports Foundation surfaced the emails and flagged the situation publicly.

Catch up quick:

• West Virginia passed the Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act, signed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, specifically to block this kind of financial discrimination.
• AG JB McCuskey — who previously led a 26-state Second Amendment Task Force through the DOJ — is now investigating Bill.com and Ramp.
• If either company holds a contract with West Virginia, they're exposed to civil suit from both Kent Cartridge and the AG's office.
• President Trump's executive order on free and fair banking gives the federal DOJ its own lane to pursue the matter.

Bill.com still publicly lists "Weapons & Defense Sector" as a restricted category on its website — covering manufacture, sale, or production of "arms, military and dual use equipment, weapons, guns, ammunition or explosives." That's a bold policy to hold while West Virginia's AG is reading your emails.

The tell: After NSSF published Keane's piece, Bill.com reached out to Kent Cartridge directly to say it had revised its policies and was ready to do business. Ramp has not responded.

"As Governor, I will always support and defend West Virginians' God-given constitutional rights." — Gov. Patrick Morrisey, upon signing the FIND Act

The big picture: This isn't an isolated case. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America all walked back similar anti-firearms policies under public and legal pressure. Operation Choke Point — the Obama-era scheme to pressure banks into cutting off gun businesses — was illegal when the feds ran it. The Biden administration let private financial companies run the same playbook informally. That pressure has now reversed at the federal level, and states like West Virginia are closing off the remaining escape routes.

What to watch: Whether Ramp follows Bill.com's lead before McCuskey finishes his investigation — and whether the AG's office moves forward with civil action regardless, as a deterrent signal to other processors eyeing the firearms industry.