In the world of social media, there are a few issues or charges that get the attention of a lot of people, one of them being that the government is trying to  outlaw guns or "take your guns away from you."  Recently, a pawn shop owner in Brooksville recently received a letter from SunTrust Bank, who notified him that they were closing his accounts with the bank.

Steve Champion, the owner of American Gun & Pawn, took to social media to protest the bank's actions.  The story was picked up by the online service FloridaNewsFlash.com, who used this headline for the story:

"Suntrust Bank cancels account because company sells guns."

Our partners at PolitiFact took a look at this claim to see if it was accurate.  PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that the headline rates MOSTLY FALSE on the Truth-O-Meter.  Gillin says that accounts are being cancelled, but they aren't targeting gun shops.

"We checked with SunTrust, and while it's true that they are cancelling accounts of some businesses, it's not because they are owners of gun shops," said Gillin.  "SunTrust told us that the accounts that are being phased out are actually those of pawn shops, payday lenders, and dedicated check-cashers.  SunTrust decided that they wanted to distance themselves from those kind of operations."

Gillin notes that there is no regulation mandating SunTrust take this action.  "Guidelines were issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - the FDIC - that state that pawn shops are considered 'high-risk businesses'," said Gillin.  "That doesn't mean, by any stretch, that the FDIC is prohibiting banks from engaging pawn shops.  It's merely a case of SunTrust deciding on their own that they are declining the opportunity to offer accounts to pawn shop businesses."

Gillin says that the headline misses the mark by a pretty significant margin, focusing on people who sell guns rather than those who operate pawn shops (which may or may not sell guns).  For that reason, PolitiFact rated FloridaNewsFlash.com's headline as MOSTLY FALSE.

 

SOURCES: SunTrust Bank closing gun shop accounts?