Everyone is familiar with the Square debit and credit card reader (pictured at right) sold for use with smartphones, are they not?  Well, due to a change just over one year ago in their Terms Of Service agreement, Square has now joined PayPal in prohibiting the use of their service for transacting payments for firearms or ammunition.  This, of course, has put a crimp in the business model for many smaller gun dealers and sellers, particularly those that sometimes transact business off-site, such as at gun shows.

Jennifer Kerns has up an article at the Daily Signal blog with the details. An excerpt:

Last summer, around the same time the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point began pressuring banks to drop customers who buy or sell firearms, tobacco and other goods considered “not acceptable” by the Obama administration, Square quietly changed its terms of agreement.

The new terms stipulate that users of the Square card reader:

… will not accept payments in connection with the following businesses or business activities: …sales of (i) firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition; or (ii) weapons and other devices designed to cause physical injury.

Kern goes on to note that:

Today, the Square’s terms prohibit gun-shop owners from using the credit-card processor not only when they are conducting gun sales at their brick-and-mortar stores but even more so when they are offsite, representing their stores at gun shows where they often need the wireless Square Reader to ring up sales on smartphones or tablets.  Gun shows have been a target of anti-gun activists for nearly 20 years.

The full article is HERE.  And for those interested in alternative payment methods, check into the NRA Business Alliance, PistolPay, and PhoneSwipe services.