Operation Choke Point Loses It’s Grip

By Jenn Jacques

After North Carolina gun dealer Luke Lichterman’s business account was denied a check processing service by HomeTrust Bank in Asheville, NC, he dug in, determined to get answers. Citing a 2013 Department of Justice regulation dubbed “Operation Choke Point” which barred them from serving a “risky” business, the bank’s decision threatened to strangle this 75-year-old’s livelihood.

When Lichterman asked the banker for another example of an industry that HomeTrust Bank wouldn’t do business with, he couldn’t believe his ears: “Pornography,” the banker replied.

“I really had to stop from laughing,” Lichterman recalled. “I said, I’m not a pornographer. I deal in constitutionally protected goods.”

“I was aware of Operation Choke Point and that it was intended to make it impossible for people with a fraudulent business to do banking,” Lichterman said. “But I sell firearms, which is constitutionally protected, and am licensed by the federal government to sell firearms.”

Lichterman’s company, a web-based gun and tactical store called Hunting and Defense Wholesale was denied the service on March 11, 2016. But Lichterman’s determination and the efforts by advocacy groups have finally paid off.

“The pressure brought by groups like the Second Amendment Foundation against ‘Operation Choke Point’ and financial …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms