Rep. Reece Pyrtle (R-Rockingham) told colleagues Tuesday that his efforts to pass the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act stems from a merchant category code that was created in 2022 for gun and ammunition sellers. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved the code as a way to identify suspicious and potentially illegal weapons purchases.
At the time, groups like Everytown for Gun Safety praised the specific merchant category code (“MCC”) noting that it could provide necessary data for banks and law enforcement to identify transactions that may be related to mass shootings or other gun-related crimes.
Rep. Pyrtle told members of the House Commerce committee that this code, which would appear when a firearms purchase is made by credit card, creates a burden on lawful gun owners.
“The surveillance causes a significant and chilling effect on individuals in North Carolina wishing to exercise in their federal and state constitutional rights to keep and bear arms,” Pyrtle explained.
Rep. Reece Pyrtle is a primary sponsor of House Bill 38. (Photo: NCGA screengrab)House Bill 38 would prohibit payment card networks like Visa or Mastercard from using a firearms code for recording transactions or from maintaining any sort of firearms registry.
“This is really a piece of legislation that I think is protecting individuals from industries outside this country and the individuals from private sector from collecting data,” said Pyrtle.
Pyrtle’s bill would also grant North Carolina’s Attorney General the power to investigate any alleged violation by the credit card networks and assess civil penalties.
Rep. Bryan Cohn (D-Granville) questioned whether the legislation might have an unintended consequence of making it more difficult to investigate gun-related crimes.
“There’s a federal law that prohibits a firearms list of ownership. You’re not supposed to do that,” said Pyrtle, a retired police chief. “And as an investigator, I can always go to the federal firearms licensed dealer and request a search as part of my investigation.”
Three states – California, Colorado, and New York – were the first to pass legislation that would require the unique category code for gun and ammunition sales.
Sixteen states have passed legislation that bans the use of the merchant category code for gun store purchases.
Pushback from gun rights groups has largely prompted the larger credit card companies to pause their use of the specific code.
House Bill 38 advanced on a voice vote Tuesday and now moves to the House Judiciary I Committee.
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