# Steve Moore Slams Price Controls: Why Capping Credit Card Rates is Economic Suicide (And a Warning for Gun Owners)
In a fiery takedown on Fox Business’s Varney & Co., former Trump economic advisor Steve Moore didn’t mince words about President Trump’s push for capping credit card interest rates: Wage and price controls are always, always, a mistake. Moore’s blunt assessment echoes decades of economic history, from Nixon’s 1971 wage-price freeze that sparked shortages and black markets, to Venezuela’s disastrous controls that turned toilet paper into a luxury good. Trump’s proposal—aiming to slash rates from the current 20-30% averages—sounds like consumer populism on steroids, but as Moore warns, it ignores basic supply-demand economics. Lenders would simply exit the high-risk market, leaving subprime borrowers (think low-income families) without access to credit, driving them to shadier loan sharks or outright defaults. It’s the kind of short-term political sugar rush that crashes the economy long-term, inflating costs elsewhere as capital flees regulated sectors.
But here’s where it gets personal for the 2A community: government price controls are the gateway drug to broader confiscation schemes, and gun owners should see this as a flashing red light. Just as capping credit rates distorts markets and punishes responsible providers, past common-sense gun measures—like the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban’s arbitrary price hikes on features via fees and restrictions—created artificial scarcity, jacking up black rifle prices by 50-100% overnight. Fast-forward to today: ATF’s pistol brace rule and forced serialization of forced-reset triggers aren’t outright caps, but they’re de facto price controls on suppressors, SBRs, and innovative accessories, with wait times ballooning to years and costs soaring due to compliance burdens. Trump’s flirtation with credit controls signals a willingness to meddle where markets work best, potentially emboldening anti-2A forces to push affordability caps on ammo or high-capacity mags under the guise of protecting the poor from exploitative Second Amendment exercise. Moore’s right—it’s always a mistake, and for gun folks, it’s a reminder that economic freedom is the bedrock of our right to keep and bear arms without Big Brother dictating the price of liberty.
The implications? If Democrats regain power, expect this rhetoric to morph into full-throated attacks on profiteering firearm makers, mirroring California’s microstamping mandates that effectively price many handguns out of existence. 2A advocates must rally against all price controls, framing them as the thin end of the wedge. Support free markets, deregulation, and politicians who get it—because when government caps prices, it inevitably caps rights. Steve Moore just gave us the talking points; now it’s time to arm up with arguments and protect the arsenal of freedom.
