Bank Chiefs Grilled On Restricting Gun Sales Via Firearm-Specific Merchant Codes
All seven bank chiefs testifying before Congress on Thursday committed to upholding the Second Amendment by promising not to restrict sales of guns following the adoption of new firearm-specific transaction codes that have sparked concern over whether the tracking data might be used by payment processors to curb sales of guns and ammunition.
The CEOs made the pledge while responding to Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who pressed the heads of America’s biggest retail banks for a commitment to protect and process all transactions for legal goods and services—including guns—in light of what he described as political pressure to legislate social policy through corporate boardrooms instead of through the democratic processes.
Cramer said that the adoption of the new firearm-specific Merchant Category Codes (MCC) for gun and ammunition stores was foisted on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) by liberal activists.
Major U.S. credit card companies have announced that they would implement the firearm-specific category codes, a move that was criticized by gun rights groups and two dozen Republican attorneys general as invasive, unfair, and ineffective at bolstering public safety.
Protecting All Legal Transactions
In light of the controversy surrounding the new gun-specific codes, which U.S. banks have committed to using, Cramer asked the chiefs to take a stand on protecting Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
“I want to ask each of you—as the carriers, as the acquirers, as the facilitators that are providing the capital—can you commit in front of this committee, and the pay-per-view audience that’s listening and watching, that your bank will process all transactions for the purchase of legal goods and services, and I might add constitutionally protected goods?” the Republican senator asked.
All seven bank CEOs responded in turn, each committing to processing all transactions of legal goods and services, including firearms and ammunition.
Cramer pressed Citigroup CEO
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