Visa, Mastercard Suspend Plans To Track Gun Purchases After Blowback

Visa and Mastercard suspended plans to monitor ammunition and gun purchases following criticisms from gun rights activists and supporters.

Payment processors announced Last year, they announced that the International Organization for Standardization would approve a new merchant code. It could help to track guns and ammunition purchased from gun shops. This move angered gun rights advocates and prompted Republican legislators and attorneys general to pursue legal action against payment processors.

After stiff resistance and the fact that several states are moving ahead with legislation to block the tracking of such transactions, Visa and Mastercard, the largest global payment processors, have halted adoption of the new code, said Mastercard. Bloomberg.

“There are bills advancing in several states related to the use of this new code. If passed, the result will be an inconsistency in how this ISO standard could be applied by merchants, issuers, acquirers and networks,” Bloomberg received a statement from a Visa spokesperson. “It’s for that reason that we have decided to pause work on the implementation of the firearms-specific MCC.”

In September, nearly two dozen GOP general attorneys sent letters to Visa and Mastercard about plans to adopt the code to track ammo and gun purchases. These companies were warned by state prosecutors that tracking this kind of gun and ammo purchases could infringe upon Americans’ Second Amendment rights.

“Categorizing the constitutionally protected right to purchase firearms unfairly singles out law-abiding merchants and consumers alike,” General attorneys wrote. “We will marshal the full scope of our lawful authority to protect our citizens and consumers from unlawful attempts to undermine their constitutional rights.”

Republicans in Congress expressed Similar worries. The new code may be used to create a gun registry that is monitored by private companies instead of the federal government, they said.

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