Credit Card Processor Threatens Customers Over 80% Frames Using Flawed Anti-gun Data

UPDATE 8/10/2022: After the below article was published on AmmoLand News, a representative from Elavon issued this statement by email to affected clients;

“I received some clarification on the requirements needed. Since you are not selling 80% kits AFTER August 23th, [2022] we do not need any screenshots provided. I apologize for the confusion. No further information needed. Thank you for your time.”

ATLANTA, GA -(Ammoland.com)- The leading payment processor for 80% firearm kit retailers has bent a knee to the rabid anti-gun left by using flawed Everytown for gun safety data on gun laws.

Most online sellers of non-serialized frames and receivers use a company called Elavon to process credit cards. Merchants that sell items such as Polymer80s started receiving notices that they could not ship their products to certain states. Accompanying the email was a web page on the Everytown for Gun Safety website claiming that it is illegal to ship Pollymer80 kits to 11 states. The credit card company asked its customers to provide proof that it has a system in place to prevent sales to these 11 states.

AmmoLand News reviewed the Everytown website’s data and found it was flawed. Nevada is listed as having a law preventing the sale of frames without a serial number. Anti-gun advocates call these items “ghost guns.” Nevada does have a law on the books that ban the sale of the kits, but a state court ruled that the law was unconstitutional. The court battles continue in the state, but as of right now, it is not illegal to buy a Polymer80 kit in Nevada. Elavon is enforcing the ban even though the law is not in effect based on data from an anti-gun agenda-driven group.

Another state that Elavon is refusing to let its customers ship products to is Illinois. The state passed a law banning frames without serial numbers this year. In May, Governor J. B. Pritzker signed the bill into law, surrounded by Everytown front group, Moms Demand Action, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The Illinois law isn’t due to go into effect until November. Currently, it is legal to ship the kits into the state. The Everytown site states that the law makes it illegal to ship the frames into the state even though the law is not in effect.

The credit card processing company also wants its merchants to state on its website that they cannot ship to those states because it is against the law. The company wants its clients to provide screenshots of the web pages. The affected clients would be providing their customers with wrong information, which could lead to confusion and loss of legal revenue.

Elavon also mandates all its customers to comply with the new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) final rule on non-serialized frames and receivers by August 12th, 2022.

The payment processor threatened that any company not in compliance risked having their funds delayed or merchant account canceled. The new rule does not go into effect until August 24. There are two legal challenges to the rule. The first is the Division 80 case in Texas. The motion for its preliminary injunction is scheduled to be heard in front of a judge today. The second is the Gun Owners of America (GOA) case in North Dakota. The motion for an injunction will likely be heard on August 17 or 18. The GOA case also has 17 states Attorney Generals as plaintiffs. With the Bruen and the WVA v. EPA Supreme Court decisions, those injunctions have a good chance of succeeding.

The company didn’t say what it would do if those challenges were successful. Its customer base would at least lose out of several weeks of profits. AmmoLand News reached out to the company to see if it would allow companies to sell the kits if the rule was overturned. Elavon refused to answer the question stating that they would only talk to merchants.

AmmoLand News reached out to several people at Elavon for comment. All declined to comment.

About John Crump

John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.