Credit card tracking of gun purchases.

[Ron]

On Saturday, credit card company Visa Inc. announced its plans to begin keeping track of sales at gun shops separately from all other purchases, in a move widely seen as a crackdown on Second Amendment rights and increased surveillance on private citizens by a major corporation.

According to NPR, Visa is following the recommendation of the International Organization for Standardization (IOS), which first issued its own guidelines updating the merchant code for gun purchases. Other credit card companies, including MasterCard and American Express, have also announced their intentions to follow this new guidance.

https://amgreatness.com/2022/09/12/major-credit-card-companies-begin-tracking-gun-sales/

Of course law enforcement will be able to gain access to purchase records. I suspect if they aren't coding ammo purchases also they will be soon enough.

How many folks are going to stop using VISA, MC and AmEx over this? ... That's what I thought.

[Hawkmoon]

Not purchases. They're creating a separate classification for "gun stores."

[kgbsquirrel]

Cash is king.

[WLJ]

Not purchases. They're creating a separate classification for "gun stores."

Which greatly narrows down who may have bought guns.

[Ben]

Which greatly narrows down who may have bought guns.

Or who only bought a safe but had it flagged as a  "multiple gun purchase" because of price.

[French G.]

Your duty to go buy a gun on credit. Lots of them.

[Ron]

Not purchases. They're creating a separate classification for "gun stores."

If you aren't convinced of the reality of the slippery slope by now, I'm not sure what more can be said.   

[Jim147]

Or who only bought a safe but had it flagged as a  "multiple gun purchase" because of price.

Wondering about what they will do with places like Bass Pro, Scheels, Acadamy.... Libs go in to buy some golf clubs, some fancy sports clothe or the biggest newest Yeti cooler to take to the lake. Are they now on a list?

[WLJ]

Wondering about what they will do with places like Bass Pro, Scheels, Acadamy.... Libs go in to buy some golf clubs, some fancy sports clothe or the biggest newest Yeti cooler to take to the lake. Are they now on a list?

Without knowing more I would say potentially yes.
The whole point of this is to greatly narrow down where to look. Some dolphins may be caught in the tuna net.

[MikeB]

This is the result of members of Congress and the Senate sending letters demanding this. Same thing they are doing with UPS/Fedex.

Shouldn't some enterprising DA or AG prosecute this? Isn't this those members of Congress and Senate basically trying to deny rights under the color of their authority or however that exact phrasing works. Might not be an easy case, but it should be tried.

This isn't too different than the Whitehouse telling social media companies what stuff to not allow, which is the definition of government censorship despite the Social Media companies being private business; when they are doing it at the request of government.

[Ben]

Wondering about what they will do with places like Bass Pro, Scheels, Acadamy.... Libs go in to buy some golf clubs, some fancy sports clothe or the biggest newest Yeti cooler to take to the lake. Are they now on a list?

Only reading from the gun websites, so I don't know how accurate it is:

For sporting goods stores, apparently it's up to them as to what they do. One of the websites said that this can be register specific, so they could have a "gun store" register in their gun department, and everything checked out there would be coded as a firearm. For a place like Cabelas, that would actually be most of the sales at that register anyway, as it's the only one where they will let you check out with a gun.

They (again, according to the gun sites) could also choose not to participate. It will be interesting to see which big box stores choose to track and which don't.

[Blakenzy]

What is scary is how government is broadly using private corporations as a back door for bypassing the Constitutional. Fascism in all its glory.

[Ron]

What is scary is how government is broadly using private corporations as a back door for bypassing the Constitutional. Fascism in all its glory.

Large corporations like government and government likes large corporations. They've always been very symbiotic in fleecing and controlling the masses.

[Lennyjoe]

I’m wondering if it’s specific to gun purchases or anything gun related like pieces parts, ammo or even reloading stuff

[T.O.M.]

A ling time ago, I made a decision to make all gun purchases with cash.  Partly to keep me from making snap decisions to buy guns I couldn't afford, but partly to keep the card companies out of my business. 

Looks like I should keep this habit going

[dogmush]

I hope they run and add up my ammo purchases.

Might give them some much needed context.

[Hawkmoon]

Wondering about what they will do with places like Bass Pro, Scheels, Acadamy.... Libs go in to buy some golf clubs, some fancy sports clothe or the biggest newest Yeti cooler to take to the lake. Are they now on a list?

Reports I have read indicate that the "big box" retailers will not be tagged with the new classification.

[Hawkmoon]

I’m wondering if it’s specific to gun purchases or anything gun related like pieces parts, ammo or even reloading stuff

It's a merchant classification -- individual transactions aren't broken down by item, but they'll know when you spend $xxxx at a "gun store."

[Ron]

Brownells issues a statement:

Dear ,
I’m sure you’ve heard a lot in the news recently about major credit companies coming together to create a new merchant category code (MCC) for firearm and ammunition retailers. We’ve received a lot of inquiries about what this means, how it could impact customers and how Brownells is classified today and in the future.

Therefore, I wanted to reach out to you – a valued customer and friend – to clarify a few things regarding this issue.

 Brownells Classification Now & Going Forward

First and foremost, I want you to know that Brownells has long been classified as a “sporting goods retailer” by credit card companies. After conversation with our banking partners, we have confirmed that we will continue to be classified as a SPORTING GOODS RETAILER.

 To be clear, we WILL NOT be changing to the new MCC dedicated to firearm and ammunition retailers.  This is mainly due to the types of products we predominately sell.

 Industry Impacts

Throughout Brownells’ 83-year-history in the firearm industry, we’ve proudly taken a stand for our industry, gun owners in general and the 2nd Amendment – irrespective of whether legislation, regulatory actions or other anti-2A measures have impacted us directly.

 Put simply, we’re all in the fight for freedom and privacy together. Are we happy that our MCC code isn’t changing? Yes. However, we are deeply concerned with the impact this new classification may have on firearm owners or prospective firearm owners, local gun stores and even our competitors.
Therefore, you have my word that we will join in any effort to make our voices heard and to educate all parties involved in this matter.

Our Position on Your Privacy
We love offering you firearms, firearm accessories, parts, tools, ammunition, reloading products and all of the accoutrements to outfit your next firearm-related adventure. As shooters, hunters, firearm do-it-yourselfers, and gunsmiths ourselves, nothing brings us more pleasure than to see and hear from you about how our products, content and services help you pursue your passions.

 However, I can assure you – our NUMBER ONE priority is the safety, security and privacy of your data. Our promise to you is that we will continue to vehemently guard your personal data and order information, always.

Sincerely, Chad Martin

CEO, Brownells, Inc.

http://enews.email.brownells.com/q/zfN6fD2KW77TZ_6UEww5ZBVJkkRruWgbYFCKIug2RjmFMBuQDNMPk9iUY