Banks are mulling a creative way to enforce gun control even if the government doesn't make a single change

Associated Press/Jeff Roberson

If the US government won't enforce stricter gun control, maybe companies could make a difference.

• A New York Times columnist floated the idea of having banks and credit card companies cut business ties with retailers that sell assault weapons and accessories.
• Some finance industry executives are already reportedly on board with the idea.
• Credit card companies have enacted similar measures in the past, barring Bitcoin purchases, cutting ties with Backpage.com, and suspending payments to WikiLeaks.

Last week's deadly shooting in Florida sparked renewed calls for gun-control legislation - but some finance industry titans reportedly want to take the issue into their own hands.

New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote Monday that he'd spent several days speaking with "a handful of chief executives" to discuss how banks and credit-card companies could intervene in gun sales. Sorkin said he found universal enthusiasm, though none of the executives would speak on the record.

Sorkin drew upon Visa's espousal of "corporate responsibility" to argue that financial companies should change their terms of service to cut business ties with retailers that sell assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stock devices that accelerate semiautomatic rifles' firing rate.

"Assault weapons would be eliminated from virtually every firearms store in America because otherwise the sellers would be cut off from the credit card system," Sorkin wrote.

The idea has precedent, Sorkin added. Major banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America barred clients from using their credit cards to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies due to risk and volatility.

The financial industry has also previously intervened in cases where the companies feared legal liability from their clients' purchases. In 2015, Visa and MasterCard cut business ties with Backpage.com, the classified advertising portal, after law-enforcement agencies accused site of facilitating sex trafficking.

Visa and MasterCard also suspended payments and donations to WikiLeaks in 2010 after the website published hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables. MasterCard argued at the time that company rules prohibited customers from "directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal."

Sorkin acknowledged the idea may be a "pipe dream," and that at least two executives noted that they feared the reaction of the National Rifle Association and worried for their employees' safety.

"None of this is a panacea. But it's a start. It takes leadership and courage - exactly what these executives say they have," Sorkin wrote. "If they don't want to back up their words with actions, the next time there's a school shooting that prompts a conversation about gun companies, it should also include the financial complex that supports them."