(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard have halted their plans to track firearm and ammunition purchases through a new merchant code in what is deemed a significant win for Second Amendment rights defenders.
The credit card companies had previously bowed to pressure from the civil servant unions of New York and California to take measures to monitor and track gun sales.
The measures in question became possible after the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was prompted by anti-gun leftist activists and agreed to create a new Merchant Category Code for credit card sales specific to gun stores.
“The decision to use the new merchant category code is eventually left up to the users in the industry,” an ISO representative said in September 2022 when the organization approved the new merchant code for gun sales tracking.
Visa and Mastercard’s decisions to put on hold the plans for implementing the gun sales tracking come after, in the fall of last year, they received a warning from a coalition of 24 Republican-run states.
The 24 GOP state attorneys general led by the AGs of Tennessee and Montana warned in a letter to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express that a new merchant code for gun stores would violate Second Amendment rights and other laws and regulations.
Breitbart News reported that two of the three companies in question have now paused their plans for gun control measures.
“[Their decision is] a significant win for conservative groups and Second Amendment advocates who felt that tracking gun shop purchases would inadvertently discriminate against legal firearm purchases,” wrote WAFB in a report.
West Virginia’s Treasurer Riley Moore celebrated the news on Twitter.
“Visa and Mastercard dropped their plans to track firearm and ammunition purchases because of my legislation. When conservatives fight, we win,” he wrote.
In a statement, Visa made it clear that the conservative legal pushback was at least partly responsible for its decision.
“There is now significant confusion and legal uncertainty in the payments ecosystem, and the state actions disrupt the intent of global standards,” the company said.
“The move is a setback for gun control groups. They say categorizing credit, and debit card purchases might help authorities see potential red flags — like significant ammunition purchases — before a mass shooting could be carried out,” CBS News commented.
Earlier this month, however, it became known that another credit card company, Discover, does plan to start tracking firearm and ammunition purchases as of April.
“[Discover Financial Services will] allow its network to track purchases at gun retailers come April, making it the first among its peers to publicly give a date for moving ahead with the initiative, which is aimed at helping authorities probe gun-related crimes,” Reuters wrote in a report.
What is your opinion? Are you glad Visa and Mastercard have halted their plans to track firearm and ammunition purchases? Share your thoughts and views by emailing [email protected]. Thank you.
Visa and Mastercard have halted their plans to use a new merchant code to track gun purchases. https://t.co/CbrKXaOeLa
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 9, 2023
