[[{“value”:”
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to follow and signup for notifications!
South Carolina lawmakers are one step closer to making the Palmetto State the 21st to ban the use of firearms-specific merchant category codes (MCCs) for citizens buying guns and ammunition.
Last week, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed House Bill 3930, which would prohibit the use of firearm- and ammunition-specific Merchant Category Codes. The measure now goes to the state senate.
At issue is a relatively new MCC for gun purchases adopted by the International Organization for Standardization in early 2023. MCCs are used by payment processors (like Visa and Mastercard) and other financial services companies to categorize transactions. Prior to the creation of the specific gun code, firearms retailers fell under the MCC for sporting goods stores or miscellaneous retail. When the new code is used, credit card companies and other payment processors can tell that the purchases were firearms, creating a de facto gun registry.
Interestingly, the South Carolina legislation also includes an enforcement mechanism that allows the South Carolina Attorney General to pursue legal remedies against entities that violate these provisions.
“The Attorney General shall investigate reasonable allegations that a person or entity, including a government entity, has violated the provisions of this article and, upon finding violation, provide written notice to the person or entity believed to have committed the violation,” the measure states. “The person or entity shall cease the violation within thirty business days after receiving written notice from the Attorney General pursuant to this section.”
The measure continues: If a person or entity does not cease the violation within thirty business days after receiving written notice from the Attorney General in accordance with this section, the Attorney General shall file an action against that person or entity to seek an injunction. If the court finds that the person or entity violated the provisions of this article and has not ceased the activity constituting the violation, the court shall enjoin the person or entity from continuing such activity and shall award attorney’s fees and costs.”
If passed, South Carolina would mark the 21st state to add such a provision to its laws. Interestingly, federal lawmakers have also taken aim at gun-specific MCCs, hoping to pass a federal law on the matter.
Last November, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation to halt the use of the gun-specific MCC nationwide, thereby protecting gun owners’ privacy. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky wrote in a November 4 op-ed posted at Newsweek.com that their legislation, the Protecting Privacy in Purchasing Act, is meant to protect America’s gun owners from unnecessary intrusion by financial institutions.
“The creation of MCCs specifically for firearms retailers is weaponizing the financial system against lawful gun owners by seeking to label and track transactions on firearms and ammunition,” they wrote in the op-ed. “Our bill aims to ensure that firearms retailers are not unjustly targeted by payment card networks or other financial entities, and purchases by law-abiding citizens are protected from monitoring and denial by the government. Specifically, our bill ensures that firearms retailers are not considered differently than general or sporting goods merchants.”
“}]]
