(PUBLISHER: A listener to our radio show obviously remembers me sharing the story of my gun purchases the weekend before the 2008 election and thought that I might be interested in what happened here locally to the maker of my AR-15.
The Saturday before the 2008 POTUS election I attended a gun show in Mesa, Az with my sons and a couple of friends. From my perspective I wanted to get 3 AR-15 Lowers since I suspected that in a few days they would be much more expensive. And this is exactly what happened. What cost me $105 each would skyrocket to almost $300 in less than a week... if you could even get them (how's the supply now?).
American Spirit Arms were new to gun manufacturing as I remember. This was 4 years ago but I'm pretty sure I was told that they made precision medical/surgical equipment and discovered that some downloaded files and a block of steel would put them in the gun business if they could get all of the government permission slips. They did and now are a quality gun manufacturer with experience in precision milling.
I remember them being young and not appreciating the likelihood of what was going to happen after the election of Obama (or McCain).
I agreed to only take one of the Lowers to build my first AR-15 and to pick up the other two later that week so that they could sell them at the gun show (lots of buyers).
When I arrived later that week at their manufacturing/retail location near the Scottsdale Airport I was told that I would have to wait 3 months before they cleared out their back orders at almost $300 each. I anticipated this and required that they hand write on the invoice that I would have them held for me when I went to get them.
Reluctantly I was provided my Lowers. I was then asked how I knew what was going to happen. A 3 minute explanation of who we were, an exchange of business cards and a couple of historical references helped. But these guys were young and inexperienced in the ways of politics and the intentions of government in general.
Four years later I think they understand very well.)
---
Ernie,
You may recall this past April, when Bank of America informed McMillan Rifles in
Phx. that they were asking them to close their accounts and find another
financial services provider, specifically because BofA didn't want to associate
with a gun manufacturer. They caught a lot of flak for it, and denied that it
happened.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/27/gun-manufacturer-says-bank-american-doesnt-want-his-business/
Well,
it has happened again. This time with the folks who made your AR-15s you bought
a few years ago.
American Spirit Arms (ASA) posted the following news
item
tonite.
http://www.arizonashooting.com/v3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=167950
My
name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms and I wanted to share my
recent experience with Bank of America .(which we have been doing business with
for over 10 years)…. Everyone is familiar with the latest increase in gun sales
, dealers selling out of inventory , Manufacturers back logged for months ,
large revenue all generated in the last two weeks …. American Spirit Arms is no
exception to the overwhelming demand .
What we have experienced is that our web
site orders have jumped 500 % causing our web site E commerce processing larger
Deposits to BANK OF AMERICA. Well, this through up a huge RED Flag with Bank of
America. So they decided to hold the deposits for further review , meaning that
the orders/payments that were coming in through the web ,( being paid by the
customer and that were shipped out by American Spirit Arms ),the BANK was
keeping (UNDER REVIEW )..as you could imagine this made me furious. After
countless hours on the phone with BANK OF AMERICA I finally got a Manager in the
right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on hold for
FURTHER REVIEW …
HER EXACT WORDS WERE …
..” WE BELIEVE YOU SHOULD NOT BE
SELLING GUNS and PARTS ON THE INTERNET “
…I flipped the F**k Out and told
them that they have no right to make up their own new rules and regs, that we
are a firearms Manufacturer with all the proper licensing, FFL (Federal Firearm
license ), SOT and that we follow all Federal and all States’ rules and
regulations on shipping Firearms and parts, and that we are also Audited by ATF
and Homeland
Security on a regular basis. She said that she understands that
but that the deposits will be released After they have a
Chance to review
and clear them, I told her that This was unacceptable and the those deposits
(that were a week old by now ) needed to be released ASAP, that we are a small
business and rely on the revenue to run and stay operational.
After that
being said another Manager got involved and released one of the deposits (to
help out )… So far to date after
Two weeks of sales only 1/3 of collected
internet sales have been released ..I am still pissed and looking for another
Bank and options …
I just thought the public should know ..
I will
keep everyone posted on new developments ..
Sincerely
Joseph P
Sirochman
American Spirit Arms
16001 N Greenway Hayden Loop
Suite
B
Scottsdale AZ 85260
480-367-9540 phone
480-367-9541 fax
Ernest Hancock
1 Comments in Response to Bank of America Holding AR-15 Manufacturer's Deposits
This is unacceptable....BOA is probably in violation of their federal banking charter and they should be reported to the Treasury Department. No way that they should get away with doing this. Everyone should boycott them immediately.