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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A critical federal effort is underway to stop credit card companies and financial institutions from tracking lawful firearm and ammunition purchases using merchant category codes (MCCs) that single out gun retailers. Senate Bill 1715 and its House companion, H.R. 1181, known as the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act, would prohibit the use of a firearm retailer-specific MCC — a system already exposed as a tool for backdoor surveillance of gun owners.
Introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV), this legislation aims to ensure that Second Amendment rights are not quietly undermined by anti-gun activists leveraging financial infrastructure to monitor or deny lawful transactions. Both bills would make it illegal for payment card networks and processors to assign or require these targeted codes, which are currently used to categorize businesses for transaction tracking.
NSSF, the firearm industry’s trade association, praised the legislation, warning that MCCs have “already proven to be exploited by the federal government for political purposes and denying lawful credit card transactions.” Lawrence Keane, NSSF’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, called the MCC policy an “Orwellian antigun scheme” and lauded Senator Hagerty for standing up to both government overreach and financial institutions trying to act as gatekeepers of constitutionally protected rights.
“Gun control proponents… have already admitted the use of a firearm retailer-specific Merchant Category Code is intended to monitor and approve or deny firearm and ammunition purchases,” said Keane. “No American should be concerned that banks or the federal government are employing this scheme to monitor the exercise of their Second Amendment rights.”
Senator Hagerty’s bill has already earned the support of 16 Senate co-sponsors, while Rep. Moore’s House version has gathered backing from over 100 lawmakers. The legislative push builds on a wave of state-level action — 20 states have now enacted laws banning firearm-specific MCCs, including Texas, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Meanwhile, just three states — California, Colorado, and New York — have passed laws mandating the use of these invasive tracking codes.
This clear disparity across state lines has already led major card companies — including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express — to pause implementation of the firearm-specific MCCs, citing legal uncertainty and widespread opposition. Visa directly acknowledged that the backlash from states created “significant confusion” in the payments ecosystem.
And for good reason.
The MCC system cannot actually identify what was purchased — only where a purchase occurred. As Visa’s CEO pointed out, there is no way to distinguish between someone buying a rifle and someone buying camping gear at the same store. The code’s true purpose is not crime prevention, but rather political control and the gradual normalization of surveillance over a lawful and constitutionally protected industry.
Proponents of these federal bills understand exactly what’s at stake. Allowing credit card companies to monitor purchases at gun shops under the guise of safety is nothing more than a workaround to build unofficial watchlists and pressure banks into denying services to lawful firearm retailers and customers. These codes do not deter crime — they create a chilling effect on the exercise of rights.
With the introduction of the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act in both chambers, and a President who has pledged to defend the Second Amendment now in the White House, the opportunity has never been better to lock in federal protections that stop these codes from ever taking root.
The states have led — now it’s time for Congress to finish the job. These bills should be passed without delay to ensure that law-abiding Americans are not tracked, flagged, or targeted simply for exercising their constitutional rights.
What’s Next
The Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act is now under review in congressional committees:
- S. 1715 is being considered by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- H.R. 1181 is assigned to the House Committee on Financial Services
To move forward, each bill will need to:
- Pass out of committee with majority support
- Receive a full vote on the floor of its respective chamber
- Be reconciled between House and Senate if there are any changes
- Be signed into law by the President
Gun owners and Second Amendment supporters are encouraged to contact their U.S. Senators and Representatives to express strong support for these bills. With broad grassroots backing and the momentum already established by 20 states, now is the time to ensure that this legislation reaches the President’s desk.
Could this be strategic planning on the part of anti-2A advocates?
Just saw this tracking scheme being advertised by a bank as a “FEATURE” to parents telling them they could now sign up to add detailed tracking of all purchases made by their children on debit cards the parents would provide to them. The advertisement strongly implied the level of detail was much more granular than just WHERE the purchase was made, but would include exactly WHAT they purchased as well…and would provide the information in near real-time via text message.
I can see the attraction of this kind of child activity monitoring “feature” to parents, but it can be easily interpreted as CONDITIONING people to accept this level of data acquisition, storage and dissemination as routine…and in fact even encourage them to possibly DEMAND it should this become an even greater national data privacy issue with respect to the 2nd Amendment.