- Proposed GOP bills in six states block banks that limit guns
- As in Texas, the aim is to punish Wall Street for gun policies
These are strange times for Wall Street as bankers watch one of their most reliable business lines — lending to U.S. states and cities — turn into a political weapon.
GOP lawmakers in Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota and West Virginia have introduced legislation conceived by an influential gun group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, that aims to punish Wall Street for what it deems to be restrictive gun policies.
The measures, the latest of which was put forward last week, target banks’ work with states and cities. They follow the lead of a GOP-backed law in Texas that has successfully cut off banks like Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a key public-finance market. Several banking groups are lobbying against the legislation, but they may face an uphill battle given five of the six states are Republican-controlled.
Bloomberg Markets
By Amanda Albright and Danielle Moran
February 10, 2022, 4:00 AM PST