Visa, Mastercard, American Express specifically will be labeling gun store sales to track and trace purchases.
The international organization responsible for creating merchant category codes for credit card purchases has approved to establish a code for transactions made at gun stores.
Amalgamated Bank made the special request to set up this code but U.S. government officials and politicians are also behind this action.
A spokesperson for the ISO said that RMMG members could not decide whether to approve the application.
The discussion was then escalated to ISO leadership which oversees standards for retail financial services.
“Considering the application met all the criteria from ISO 18245 and no material arguments pertaining to the approval criteria outlined in the ISO 18245 standard to reject the code were made, SC9 leadership has approved this MCC application in order to comply with the standard,” the ISO said in a statement.
Politicians are involved
New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to executives at American Express, Mastercard and Visa, urging them to support a merchant category code. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s replacement, also met with the ISO and tweeted her support of the track and trace movement for guns.
The New York Attorney General Letitia James says this action will prevent tragedies.
She says, “Labeling gun and ammunition sales is a responsible, common-sense way to help protect Americans, and I thank Amalgamated Bank for their bold leadership on this critical issue.”
“I urge credit card companies to take the next step and flag suspicious transactions on gun and ammunition sales, like they do for fraud and money laundering.”
The National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation are fighting the action.
Mark Oliva, the organization’s managing director for public affairs, slammed the move, saying the creation of the code was “flawed on its premise. Those who believe it will help law enforcement do not provide details on what should be considered suspicious purchases.”
“This decision chills the free exercise of Constitutionally-protected rights and does nothing to assist law enforcement with crime prevention or holding criminals accountable,” he added.
“The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics consistently shows in their own reporting that 90% of felons convicted of their crimes involving a firearm admit they illegally obtain those guns through theft or trading on the black market. Attaching codes specific to firearm and ammunition purchases casts a dark pall by gun control advocates who are only interested in disarming lawful gun owners.”
Oliva added supporters of the MCC actually hope to stop purchases of guns and ammunition through credit cards.
“Credit card companies have previously publicly resisted this because they understand it is not in their interest to monitor lawful private purchases,” he added.
There is no set date for when the MCC will take effect.
American Express, through a statement provided by Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications Andrew Johnson, said it will follow the standard business practices, as it does anytime the ISO develops a new MCC.
The statement reads, “It is important to note that MCC codes are one of many data points that help us understand the industries in which our merchants operate. We are focused on ensuring that we have the right controls in place to meet our regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities, as well as prevent illegal activity on our network.”
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