Visa has joined Mastercard and American Express by applying the International Organization for Standeration’s (IOS) new merchant code to categorize gun sales in gun shops.
From Fox Business:
The new IOS code was announced on Friday. Previously, gun store sales were labeled as “general merchandise.””Following ISO’s decision to establish a new merchant category code, Visa will proceed with next steps, while ensuring we protect all legal commerce on the Visa network in accordance with our long-standing rules,” Visa said in a statement.The move by Visa signals a major victory for gun control advocates who argue that a separate category for gun store sales will help track suspicious quantities of firearm sales that could potentially lead to a mass shooting.
Gun sales at “big-box retailers” will not fall under the category.
The three payment processors also heard from Democratic lawmakers and the New York and California attorney generals. From The Wall Street Journal:
Earlier this month, Democratic lawmakers wrote to Visa, Mastercard and Amex pushing for the implementation of a new MCC for gun and ammunition sellers, citing recent examples of credit cards being used to buy guns that were later used in mass shootings.A new code for gun retailers would be “an important step towards ending financial system support for gun trafficking, gun violence, and domestic terrorism,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean wrote in a letter signed by dozens of other lawmakers.The attorneys general of New York and California recently asked the card networks to begin tracking gun sales and flagging suspicious purchases to law enforcement. Financial companies already report potential money laundering and other kinds of criminal activity, they wrote in letters to the three companies, and should do the same for suspicious gun sales.
There are merchant category codes “for nearly every type of purchase, including those at supermarkets, clothing stores, coffee shops and other retailers.”
NYC Mayor Eric Adams said, “When you buy an airline ticket or pay for your groceries, your credit card company has a special code for those retailers. It’s just common sense that we have the same policies in place for gun and ammunition stores.”
So is it to make it easier on the three payment processors and the banks? Because it sounds like Adams is trying to move away from what his fellow Democrats said about having a new code.
Also, why exclude the big retailers? Won’t that just push people to purchase their guns and ammunition at those stores?
Gun rights advocates denounced the move:
However, gun rights advocates contest that tracking gun store sales would target legal gun purchases because merchant codes only label the type of merchant where the credit or debit card is used, not the specific items. The purchase of a gun safe, for example, could be seen as a large purchase at a gun shop since the item can be bought for thousands of dollars. But a gun safe is a product considered to be part of responsible gun ownership.”The [industry’s] decision to create a firearm-specific code is nothing more than a capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans one transaction at a time,” National Rifle Association spokesman Lars Dalseide said.
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