I started a business. As my deployment in Iraq is now winding down, and I don't have a full-time job to come home to, I realize this money train (what little it is) will soon come to a halt. Unfortunately, I have habits (like EATING) that require money.
So, right before I left for Iraq, I purchased 4 acres in my hometown of Atlanta, TX to build a firing range and gun store. Last year, when my step-dad and I were putting this business together, I called Intuit and spoke with Chris. Chris was very helpful in helping me put together a full package of all the accounting hardware and software I need for a small business. I spent around $1850 for something that is now USELESS TO ME! Why? Because I have to accept credit cards.
To accept credit cards in Quickbooks Point-of-Sale, you HAVE to use Intuit's merchant services. I called and set up a merchant account, and life was peachy... until I got ready to ring up my FIRST CUSTOMER.
A fellow soldier had asked me to order three guns and a gun vault for him. I found what he requested from some of my distributors, and even ordered one of the guns and the gun vault for him. He came into my room, and told me to charge his credit card. I tried to log in to my merchant account to charge the card $1925. The website wouldn't let me log in.
"Hmm... that's odd," I thought to myself as I sent a text message to my wife asking her to call the merchant and find out what was going on. They wouldn't tell her anything, so I walked to my battalion headquarters and called them myself. I was absolutely FLOORED when they told me my account had been declined because:
"You sell firearms and firearms accessories, and we don't approve of that."
Are you kidding me!? I was fuming when I got back to my room. I didn't get an email from Intuit (until I forced the issue) saying my account was terminated, they just DID IT! I've already ordered over $500 worth of merchandise, but I can't get reimbursed because I have no way to get money from my customer!
I did a Google search for "gun friendly merchant account" and found this article that lumps my business together with porn sites and strip clubs:
...There are some businesses that are considered "adult" in nature. These types of businesses have a very specific risk profile, since they are often associated with dangerous products or with products and services that are considered on the fringe of accepted society. Adult merchant accounts are often costlier than other types of merchant accounts because they carry a higher risk of chargebacks and also of costs.
I have to pay MORE for a merchant account because my law-abiding productive members of society that choose to purchase guns from me are a "higher risk"? Guns are products that are "considered on the fringe of accepted society"??? What kind of society have we become!?
I was looking for a way to make a living doing something I enjoy. I'm not a criminal gun dealer selling guns to criminal gun runners. I'm a productive member of society selling firearms to productive law-abiding members of society. I'm rather offended my business has been lopped together with dating/escort services, massage parlors, and adult entertainment companies that "might engage in the illegal traffic of such items as snuff films or child pornography."
I started a business. As my deployment in Iraq is now winding down, and I don't have a full-time job to come home to, I realize this money train (what little it is) will soon come to a halt. Unfortunately, I have habits (like EATING) that require money.
