American Express, Visa, Mastercard move ahead with code to track gun store purchases in California

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

February 12, 2024 / 6:00 AM EST


Major credit card companies are moving to make a merchant code available for firearm and ammunition retailers in order to comply with a new California law that will allow banks to potentially track suspicious gun purchases and report them to law enforcement, CBS News has learned.

Retailers are assigned merchant codes based on the types of goods they sell, and the codes allow banks and credit card companies to detect purchase patterns. Currently gun shops are lumped in with other types of retailers, such as sporting goods stores.

Mastercard, Visa and American Express initially agreed to implement a standalone code for firearm sellers, but later paused their work on it after receiving blowback from Second Amendment advocates concerned tracking gun purchases would infringe on the rights of legal gun owners.

Gun control activists hope the code, approved by an international organization in 2022, can be used as a tool to help identify suspect purchases and, consequently, stop gun crime, including mass shootings. Proponents say a code for firearms merchants would allow banks and credit unions to alert law enforcement of potentially suspicious purchasing patterns in the same way they already flag other types of transactions, such as those that suggest identity theft or terrorist financing.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-express-visa-mastercard-gun-merchant-code/

[sanatanadharma]

1. Absolutely does not violate the 2nd A.

"Second Amendment advocates concerned tracking gun purchases would infringe on the rights of legal gun owners."

People are not stopped from purchasing.
Purchasers do not need to do anything more than they already do.
The 2nd A does not say gun owners have a right to anonymity.

There is no legal or moral or cultural or social guarantee of gun-privacy.
Those who oppose tracking purchases are defending a non-existent right to hide criminal gun behavior.

[Fullduplexxx]

2. Has the cry-baby lawsuit over this happened yet

[mahina]

3. Wonderful!

[J_William_Ryan]

4. "Absolutely does not violate the 2nd A."

Correct.

The Second Amendment concerns solely the relationship between government and those governed, not between or among private persons and private entities – such as credit cared companies.

And of course conservatives will attempt to spread ridiculous conspiracy theories and lies about credit card companies giving buying information to ‘the government’ for some nefarious reason.

[republianmushroom]

5. Good

[Prairie Gates]

6. LOL

Private companies tracking the use of their own cards is a 2A violation to these fanatics? I hope they track that like they track everything else and send the information to life and health insurance companies to better assess the financial risk of home and life and health policies.

Did they think that surveillance capitalism wouldn't come for them as well?

[efhmc]

7. Hoorah for California. Wish my folks who came to TX in 1845 had kept on traveling.