{"id":1627920,"date":"2022-08-31T08:04:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T12:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1627920"},"modified":"2022-08-31T08:05:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T12:05:01","slug":"ny-lawmakers-ask-mastercard-and-amex-to-flag-gun-store-purchases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ny-lawmakers-ask-mastercard-and-amex-to-flag-gun-store-purchases\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Lawmakers Ask MasterCard and AmEx to Flag Gun Store Purchases"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fny-lawmakers-ask-mastercard-and-amex-to-flag-gun-store-purchases%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1627920&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><span>New York lawmakers believe they have found a way to reduce firearm trafficking and mass shootings. Approximately 50 legislators penned a letter to Mastercard and American Express, requesting that the companies flag purchases made at gun stores.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Democratic state Senator Zellnor Myrie shared the letter with <a href=\"https:\/\/gothamist.com\/news\/dozens-of-ny-lawmakers-want-mastercard-american-express-to-flag-suspicious-gun-store-purchases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gothamist<\/a> and spoke about leading the effort. Myrie explained that he believed the public would agree with the lawmakers&#8217; request.<\/p>\n<p>While credit card companies do not track specific items purchased, they do use merchant category codes designated by retailer type. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mastercard.us\/content\/dam\/public\/mastercardcom\/na\/global-site\/documents\/quick-reference-booklet-merchant.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Mastercard&#8217;s quick reference booklet<\/a> notes that purchases made at a gun store fall under the &#8220;miscellaneous&#8221; or &#8220;durable goods&#8221; retailer codes. Those two MCCs also include vendors of gas lighting fixtures, musical instruments, fireworks, party supplies, and luggage, to name a few. <\/p>\n<p>The letter drafted to Mastercard and American Express requested that gun retailers have their own merchant category code instead of sharing it with other non-firearm-related vendors. This modification would allow credit card companies \u2013 and, consequently, the government \u2013 to closely track firearm and ammunition purchases.<\/p>\n<p>Myrie told Gothamist that he thinks &#8220;people would be shocked&#8221; to learn that gun retailers do not have their own MCC designation.<\/p>\n<p>New York legislators argued that plenty of other retailers have a unique code, such as pawn shops, aquariums, and antique shops. They also noted that credit card companies have already been required to report suspicious activity to law enforcement since 1970. <\/p>\n<p>Myrie argued that a one-of-a-kind code would help authorities to spot suspicious purchasing activity, which could prevent mass shootings and gun trafficking. Further, he stated that law-abiding citizens have &#8220;absolutely nothing to worry about.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The letter cited eight examples of shootings the legislators believe might have been stopped with close monitoring of credit card activity. <\/p>\n<p>New York&#8217;s Assembly Member Chantel Jackson (D) told <a href=\"https:\/\/politicsny.com\/2022\/08\/30\/ny-lawmakers-on-the-move-aug-30-2022\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">PoliticsNY<\/a>, &#8220;We need financial institutions to step up and join the fight against gun violence by creating a distinct MCC for firearm sales. Doing so could permit law enforcement to intervene before bloodshed occurs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The goal for New York lawmakers is to require credit card companies to flag &#8220;suspicious&#8221; purchasing activity. Gothamist cited making a substantial purchase at one or more locations in a short period of time as an example of suspicious purchasing activity that a credit card company would be expected to flag. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This, I think, is simply using every tool that we have to help to stem gun violence,&#8221; Myrie said. &#8220;And frankly, I&#8217;m not sure why anyone would be opposed to this, outside of trying to avoid controversy or the politics.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The National Rifle Association expressed concern that a separate code for gun retailers would create a &#8220;de facto firearm registration&#8221; that could be used later to violate Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York lawmakers believe they have found a way to reduce firearm trafficking and mass shootings. Approximately 50 legislators penned a letter to Mastercard and American Express, requesting that the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1627922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1627920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1627920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1627920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1627922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1627920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1627920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1627920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}