SUPPORTING STATEMENT:
In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated “Operation Choke Point,” to investigate financial institutions that provided services to payment processors for allegedly “high risk” – but legal – businesses, such as firearms retailers. The stated purpose of the initiative was to ferret out “fraud.” This discriminatory campaign against legally functioning businesses drove many owners to financial ruin and forced many to close. Many financial institutions cooperated1 with the government in the unconstitutional program.2 After multiple lawsuits, the FDIC reached settlements3 with several of its former targets, and the Justice Department announced4 in July 2017 that it would end Operation Choke Point. In 2021, however, the current presidential administration considered reinstating the program.5 Earlier in 2022 the International Organization for Standardization established a “merchant category code” for firearms retailers6 – a decision long sought by those who seek to run roughshod over privacy rights and weaken the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Contemporaneous with the IOS decision, top pension fund managers for the states of California and New York pressured the Company to implement the new merchant code.7 Shareholders need to know whether the Company cooperates with government officials engaged in unconstitutional law enforcement activities and censorship, opening the Company to liability claims by victims. Shareholders also need to know whether the Company fails to disclose these potential liabilities as material risks in its public filings.