THE GUN STORE EXCEPTION THAT PUTS LIVES AT RISK

Amassing an arsenal is expensive, which is why mass shooters and gun traffickers turn to credit cards. Right now, gun stores are exempt from the financial industry's most basic fraud prevention and reporting system. Our new report demonstrates that banks and credit card companies have an opportunity to stop gun violence before it happens if that exemption ends, but the gun industry is standing in the way.  Changing that has the power to save lives.

We’re fighting to end the gun store exception – and we need your support. Add your name for updates on this campaign and read on to learn more about a unique approach to addressing gun crime.

Credit cards are used to facilitate gun crimes all across America – to deadly effect. The man who murdered 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida bought nearly $20,000 worth of guns and ammunition using credit cards just twelve days before his act of terror.

A Google search bar that reads "why banks stop your purchases"

The gunman was clearly worried that this behavior looked suspicious. In the days leading up to his attack he Googled “credit card unusual spending,” “FBI,” “Credit card reports all three bureaus,” and “why banks stop your purchases.” But those worries were unfounded. His purchases went through.

Our new report found that credit cards have been used to finance dozens of gun crimes since 2019.

Here are three of those stories, ranging from terrorism to gun trafficking.

An image that reads "USA v. Dannon & Dannon" with a tag that describes the case as "Terrorism, Trafficking, and Ghost Guns" with an image of the guns recovered from the mentioned court case.

Brothers Moyad and Mahde Dannon purchased gun parts from multiple sellers over at least 6 months, splitting up purchases across sellers and using prepaid cards for some transactions to build an unknown number of ghost guns with the intention of trafficking them to ISIS.

An image that reads "USA v. Boykins & Barnes" with a tag that describes the case as "Trafficking & Straw Purchases" with an image of the gun(s) recovered from the mentioned court case.

An active duty U.S. Navy Sailor, Elijah Boykin, and accomplice, Elijah Barnes, made over 24 gun purchases totaling over $17,000. Boykin signed paperwork saying that he was the actual purchaser, but paid with Barnes’ credit card. Several guns were resold and discovered after their use in at least 3 violent crimes.

An image that reads "USA v. Dixon, et al" with a tag that describes the case as "Credit Card Fraud & Trafficking" with an image of the store where guns were illegally purchased mentioned court case.

Demarcus Dixon and two accomplices used stolen credit cards to buy firearms. A victim called the store Dixon frequented to report an unauthorized charge while Dixon was there picking up another illegally purchased gun. This underscores the need for proactive fraud prevention to halt criminal gun purchases.

These are just three of the dozens of instances of federal gun crime committed through the financial system since 2019. See the full scope in Guns Down America's new report, "The Gun Store Exception."