MAKE AR-15s HARDER TO BUY | Refuse Credit

Q. How do you stop an elephant from charging?

A. Take away his credit card!

An old joke is now... a new idea.

Nearly 48,000 UltraViolet members have signed a petition demanding credit-card companies block sale of assault weapons through their credit card.

The card companies are feeling the pressure. Last week, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the NRA-branded Visa card was dropped by the First National Bank of Omaha citing "customer feedback."¹

Ultraviolet asks: Call Visa and Mastercard to demand they block the sale of assault weapons through their credit cards

Call:

• Seth Eisen, Mastercard Vice President of Communications: 914-249-3153
• Nathaniel Sillin, Visa Senior Director of Public Affairs: 415-805-4892

PayPal and ApplePay have already blocked the use of their service to buy any guns. And we know credit card companies can do it too–they recently blocked users from buying Bitcoin using their cards.²

Speak in your own words, but consider the following talking points:

• Hi my name is __[name]_____ and I'm calling from __[city or state]________. I am a Visa or Mastercard [cardholder, merchant...]
• I'm calling to urge your company to stop helping arm mass shooters by blocking the purchase of assault weapons through your credit cards.
• Assault weapons like the AR-15 were used to kill 17 people in Parkland, 58 in Las Vegas, 49 in Orlando, and 27 in Newtown including children as young as 6, and so many more.³ 
• You can block the sale of Bitcoin. Now block the weapons of mass murderers.

Make a call, and tell Ultraviolet how it went.

Sources:

1. First National Bank dumps NRA, will no longer issue NRA Visa card, ThinkProgress, February 22, 2018

2. How Banks Could Control Gun Sales if Washington Won’t, New York Times, February 19, 2018

3. Why the AR-15 keeps appearing at America's deadliest mass shootings, USA Today, February 14, 2018