The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that blocks credit card companies from tracking gun and ammo purchases.
The measure, H.R. 1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act, was approved in a 221-201 vote, including five Democrats who crossed the aisle to support the Republican Caucus. The proposal prohibits payment card networks from using merchant category codes that carve out firearms retailers and the items they sell from other general-merchandise retailers or sporting-goods retailers. If enacted, the law would be enforced by the U.S. Justice Department, which would be required to report annually on any such investigations and cases.
Importantly, it also preempts state and local laws that conflict with the legislation.
"The creation of a separate merchant category code for gun stores at the behest of the Democrat-affiliated Amalgamated Bank opens the door to creating an unconstitutional backdoor gun registry and discrimination against law-abiding gun owners," said bill sponsor, U.S. Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV), in a statement. "My bill stops this dangerous overreach, protects consumers' financial privacy, and ensures that a backdoor federal gun registry can never be created through credit card transaction data. I'm proud the House has acted to defend both the Second Amendment and Americans' right to privacy."
The measure has the support of pro-2A groups such as Gun Owners of America and the National Rifle Association, with the latter stressing it would "prevent a backdoor registry of law-abiding gun owners by credit card companies which could then be accessed by the federal government and even third parties like gun control groups."
Meanwhile, H.R. 1181 is being slammed by Giffords and other anti-gun organizations who have pushed Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to adopt new special merchant codes in 2022 for gun and ammo sales, with the caveat that "large amounts" of either crossing the counter to one customer could be used to "red flag" purchases for law enforcement.
"The ultimate goal of those championing the application of these codes is to deny firearm and ammunition purchases through the use of credit cards," Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told Guns.com of the MCCs in 2022.
The measure now heads to the Senate for further consideration.
Banner image: A Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro OSP as part of an EDC complete menu. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
