(Bloomberg) -- The Texas attorney general’s office is seeking more information on Citigroup Inc.’s gun policies as the bank stages a comeback in the state’s municipal-bond market after a GOP law upended its public-finance business there last year.

The office is asking Citigroup to respond to accusations from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun lobbying group, that the bank can’t certify compliance with the Texas law that bars government contracts with companies that “discriminate” against firearm entities. The law requires companies to provide a written certification that they’re in compliance, and Citigroup did so in the fall, allowing it to underwrite a Texas municipal-bond sale in November.

Read more: Citi Returns to Texas Muni Market After GOP Sought Ouster

“As we reserve the right to reject any standing letter or seek additional information supporting its veracity, please provide a written response on behalf of your client, including any supporting information, within thirty days from the date of this letter,” Leslie Brock, chief of the attorney general’s public-finance division, said in a Jan. 18 letter addressed to Dale Wainwright, a lawyer at Greenberg Traurig, which represents the bank. Brock cited the correspondence that the AG’s office had received from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. 

The inquiry comes after the attorney general’s office already approved a deal Citigroup underwrote in November, indicating its sign-off on the bank’s return to the market. Citigroup had sent written verification to state officials that it was in compliance. 

This probe could complicate Citigroup’s efforts to regain market share in the state. The bank, once the biggest underwriter of state and local debt in Texas, has underwritten just three Texas municipal-bond deals since the GOP law went into effect on Sept. 1.

Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, is running for re-election this year, and his office did not respond to an email and phone call requesting comment. A spokesperson for Citigroup declined to comment. 

Related: Citi Looks to Rainmaker to Regain Top Underwriter Rank in Texas

Citigroup has repeatedly said it doesn’t see its policies as violating Texas’s new law, saying in a June blog post that it “simply requires our clients to use best practices when selling firearms.” The bank also said it continues to work with retail sector clients that sell firearms in Texas.

In 2018, Citigroup announced policies that set restrictions on the firearms industry after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, left 17 people dead. Citigroup said it would prohibit retailers that are customers of the bank from offering bump stocks or selling guns to people who haven’t passed a background check or are younger than 21. The bank’s policy does include caveats, including an exemption to the under-21 age restriction if a person has military training, for example. 

‘Woke’ Sensibilities

Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of government and public affairs at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said in a Jan. 3 letter to Paxton, that Citigroup is refusing to provide services to firearm entities that engage in “common, perfectly legal practices under both state and federal law simply because these lawful practices offend the bank’s ‘woke’ sensibilities.” 

“If this conduct by Citi is not recognized as discrimination, then the intent and purpose of the Legislature in passing Senate Bill 19 would be frustrated,” he said in the letter. 

Keane said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that the group was “encouraged” that the AG’s office is taking its concerns seriously. “We do not believe Citi has provided a valid certification,” he said. 

Brock of the AG’s office followed up with a letter to Keane on Jan. 24, including a copy of the letter sent to Wainwright, Citi’s counsel. Brock asked Keane to also provide information for consideration over the next 30 days. 

The National Shooting Sports Foundation provided Bloomberg News with a copy of the letters. 

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