Texas Law Forces Companies To Be Neutral On Guns Or Face Consequences

Woke companies who want to continue operating in Texas will have to effectively take a vow of neutrality on guns following the latest school shooting.

Thanks to a June 2021 law endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) signed by Governor Greg Abbott, firearm makers, retailers and industry groups have special protections using language typically reserved to shield people from racism, sexism, ageism or other ‘isms, Bloomberg reports.

The bill requires companies signing contracts with state government agencies to verify that they don’t discriminate against the gun industry – which forces them to ignore calls from Democrats to sever business ties in the state over the latest shooting in Uvalde, TX in which a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.

“Texas has pro-gun legislation which clearly makes a statement at ensuring that the firearms industry is well protected,” said Janice Iwama, a professor at American University, who studies the impact of gun legislation. 

Meanwhile, the National Shooting Sports Foundation wants states to follow in Texas’ footsteps, as companies in the industry are regularly denied services by banks. Similar bills have been advanced in Oklahoma and Louisiana, while additional measures have been introduced elsewhere.

The Texas law has already cast ripples across Wall Street, where Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had been curtailing some ties to gun companies, including by not lending to those that make military-style weapons for civilian use. Citigroup Inc. had also put in place restrictions for retailers that it works with.

The Texas bill requires any public contract valued at or more than $100,000 to include a provision that states the company does not and will not discriminate against a firearm entity or trade association. -Bloomberg

Texas’ law caused virtue signaling banks such as BofA, JPMorgan and Goldman to stop underwriting Texas muni bonds, however Citigroup returned to the market last year, and earlier this month JPMorgan took a first step to re-enter the market with an attempt to appeal to state lawmakers.

This isn’t the first time woke corps have bent the knee. Earlier this week, State Farm withdrew support of a program providing LGBTQ-themed children’s books to teachers and libraries, after conservative groups slammed the insurance company as “a creepy neighbor,” a play on its slogan “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”

“State Farm tells us they’re a good neighbor, but would a good neighbor target 5-year-olds for conversations about sexual identity?” a narrator says in a Monday video by the conservative group, Consumers’ Research. “That’s what State Farm is doing.”

This gross and blatant attempt to indoctrinate our children by @StateFarm is shameless and consumers should be aware a company founded on family values is now encouraging five-year-old children to question their gender.

And we have the receipts. pic.twitter.com/UYTWGb5yod

— Will Hild (@WillHild) May 23, 2022

“Conversations about gender and identity should happen at home with parents,” said State Farm spokesman Roszell Gadson in a statement to the Washington Post on Tuesday. “We don’t support required curriculum in schools on this topic. We support organizations providing resources for parents to have these conversations. We no longer support the program allowing for distribution of books in schools.”

Get woke, go broke.