Visa And Mastercard Cave On Gun Sales Category

ABC News reports:

Visa and Mastercard paused their decision to start categorizing purchases at gun shops, a significant win for conservative groups and Second Amendment advocates who felt that tracking gun shop purchases would inadvertently discriminate against legal firearms purchases.

The decision is, at the same time, also a defeat for gun control groups. There had been hope that categorizing credit and debit card purchases would allow authorities to potentially see red flags — like significant ammunition purchases — before a mass shooting could happen.

After Visa and Mastercard announced their plans to implement a separate merchant category code for gun shop purchases, the payment networks got significant pushback from the gun lobby as well as conservative politicians.

Read the full article. Two dozen Republican AGs have sent the companies a letter threatening lawsuits should they go forward with the new category. Several states, including Florida, have separately introduced bills that would outlaw such a category.

Visa and Mastercard paused their decision to start categorizing purchases at gun shops, a win for conservative groups and Second Amendment advocates who felt tracking gun shop purchases would inadvertently discriminate against legal firearms purchases. https://t.co/Uqy5FKi9O2

— ABC News (@ABC) March 12, 2023