Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are implementing a specialized merchant code in California to monitor and track purchases related to firearms and guns.
According to CBS News, this new code is being introduced to adhere to a California law that enables banks to potentially identify suspicious gun transactions and report them to law enforcement agencies.
It is worth mentioning that previously, major credit card companies had initially proposed and then retracted plans to use a similar merchant code on a national scale to track gun-related purchases.
However, on September 11, 2022, Breitbart News highlighted that Visa yielded to pressure from gun control groups and New York Democrats, agreeing to flag gun and ammunition purchases through a designated merchant code.
The Associated Press also noted that Mastercard and other prominent credit card companies followed suit and agreed to flag gun sales.
It has previously been reported that Discover was scheduled to commence tracking gun and ammunition purchases using the new merchant category code (MCC) in April 2023.
This development generated enthusiasm among the left-leaning groups but faced resistance from conservatives.
However, early last year Visa and Mastercard changed their stance due to the pushback and announced that they would not initiate the tracking of gun and ammunition purchases in the near future.
Nevertheless, these major credit card companies have now decided to employ a merchant code to monitor and track gun and gun-related sales in compliance with a new law in California.
The Washington Examiner highlighted that this California law will come into effect in 2025.
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