As you may have read, gun control advocates successfully pressured activist banks on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to create a unique merchant category code (MCC) for licensed firearms dealers. Now they are pushing lawmakers to require credit card companies to use these MCCs to gather data on and track lawful firearms purchases. Since the federal government is prohibited by law from creating and maintaining a registry of gun owners, they are attempting to outsource this effort to the private financial sector.
Today, pro-Second Amendment stalwart State Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) introduced House Bill 2837, legislation to prevent financial institutions and their agents from requiring the use of a firearms-specific MCC to distinguish purchases at a Texas firearms retailer from a general merchandise retailer or a sporting goods retailer, and to protect the privacy rights of lawful purchasers of firearms or ammunition by prohibiting the misuse of payment card processing systems to surveil, report or disclose these legal transactions.
NRA-ILA will keep you posted on the progress of HB 2837 during the 2023 Regular Session of the Texas Legislature.
