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Citi to require new retail partners to implement background checks, gun sale restrictions

A major change to the company's commercial firearms policies.

Pedestrians walks past a branch of Citibank in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. (Photo by Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Pedestrians walks past a branch of Citibank in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. (Photo by Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Citi Group on Thursday announced that it is the latest bank to rethink its relationship with the firearms industry, implementing a series of new requirements on corporate partners and vendors who accept Citi credit cards. Other banks have already announced they are re-evaluating their policies in the aftermath of last month’s Parkland mass shooting.

In a blog post, Ed Skyler, Citi’s executive vice president, global public affairs, announced Citi’s new “U.S. Commercial Firearms Policy,” as part of the company’s effort to do its part “to prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands.”

For all new retail sector clients or partners, Citi will require “(1) they don’t sell firearms to someone who hasn’t passed a background check, (2) they restrict the sale of firearms for individuals under 21 years of age, and (3) they don’t sell bump stocks or high-capacity magazines.”  This will include, he wrote, “small business, commercial and institutional clients, as well as credit card partners, whether co-brand or private label.”

Citi will also begin a series of conversations with its existing partners and will help them transition away from the bank if they don’t want to adopt such policies.

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Last month, ThinkProgress identified several banks that provide financing for companies that manufacture semi-automatic rifles like the one used in Parkland. Bank of America announced it is reexamining its relationships with gun manufactures and Berkshire Bank announced it has ended its relationship with the parent company of Smith & Wesson.