We’re very fortunate to have a Second Amendment champion like Rep. Ron Bryce introduce a bill, HB 2722, this session to prevent credit card processors from implementing the new Merchant Category Code (MCC) that was created at the urging of self-proclaimed gun control activists.
In other states, including California and even our neighboring Colorado, efforts are under way to require credit card companies to begin collecting this data on all firearm purchases. Colorado’s SB24-066 is an example of a direct attack on Second Amendment freedoms right next door.
In the way of background on this issue, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved a Merchant Category Code (MCC) for firearm retailers in late 2022. MCCs are used by payment processors (like Visa and Mastercard) and other financial services companies to categorize transactions. MCCs enable payment processors and banks to identify, monitor, and collect data on certain types of transactions. Before the ISO decision, firearm retailers fell under the MCC for sporting goods stores or miscellaneous retail.
Visa wrote a letter to anti-gun members of Congress that had advocated for the firearm retailer MCC code in which the payment processing giant opposed using the ISO for this political purpose. Visa explained,
We believe that the Visa payment system is for everyone, and we strive to make our services available to all people in all places, for uses consistent with local and national laws. If a transaction is legal, Visa’s policy is to remain neutral and process the transaction. We believe that asking payment networks to serve as a moral authority by deciding which legal goods can or cannot be purchased sets a dangerous precedent. We understood Amalgamated Bank’s request to be justified, at least in part, by an interest in blocking transactions that would fall under such a new category, and Visa’s rules expressly prohibit blocking of legal transactions under an MCC.
Following the ISO adopting the firearm retailer MCC, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express announced that they would implement the new code.
After adopting the new code, Visa reiterated its opposition to using its payment network to enact a political agenda. The company noted,
We do not believe private companies should serve as moral arbiters. Asking private companies to decide what legal products or services can or cannot be bought and from what store sets a dangerous precedent. Further, it would be an invasion of consumers’ privacy for banks and payment networks to know each of our most personal purchasing habits. Visa is firmly against this.
Backers of the firearm retailer MCC have made clear that their goal is to use the code to enact further gun control through a public-private partnership.
Amalgamated Bank, the entity that petitioned the ISO for creation of the code, has noted that they intend to create a software algorithm that will use the MCC “to report suspicious activity and illegal gun sales to authorities.” Exactly what might be deemed “suspicious activity” has not been articulated.
Given that anyone purchasing firearms from an FFL already has to undergo an FBI NICS check, such “suspicious activity” would be aimed at otherwise lawful gun sales.
Describing how the gun control scheme would interface with the federal government, the New York Times explained, “Banks could then either allow [the flagged] transactions, or block them and file suspicious activity reports with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which would ideally also create a system to quickly forward that information to local law enforcement and the F.B.I.”
Collecting firearm retailer financial transaction data amounts to surveillance and registration of law-abiding gun owners. Those promoting this scheme are in favor of firearm and gun owner registrations. It is no leap to assume that the goal of this program is to share all collected firearm retailer MCC data with government authorities and potentially private third parties that may include gun control organizations and anti-gun researchers.
Please join us in thanking Rep. Bryce for his leadership in introducing legislation to prevent this tracking from occurring in Kansas!
