Ongoing efforts to require credit card networks to create a unique merchant category code (MCC) for firearm retailers continue to grow after legislation mandating such designations passed both the New York State Senate and Assembly this month.
Financial institutions like credit card companies use MCCs to classify transactions ranging from wig shops to cruise lines, and everything in between, but gun shops are typically classified under “sporting goods” or “other,” according to State Senate bill author Zellnor Myrie.
The legislation’s proponents point to at least eight mass shootings between 2007 and 2018 financed by credit cards. They believe financial institutions are uniquely equipped to identify suspicious purchases fueling the gun violence crisis and see mandating a unique MCC as an accountability measure.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the NGO governing MCC standardization, approved a code for gun retailers back in 2022, but implementation was subsequently sandbagged by national conservative pushback. Credit card companies followed suit and halted the MCC rollout last year. If Myrie’s bill indeed becomes law, that would change in New York State.
“We must use every tool at our disposal to fight the gun violence epidemic in our communities,” Myrie said in a statement. “Yet for too long, those who facilitate and profit from gun violence have escaped scrutiny. This bill would give law enforcement another tool to pinpoint suspicious purchasing patterns and prevent a tragedy before it occurs.”
The bill stems from a gun violence prevention legislative package passed in June, which is Gun Violence Awareness Month. It was returned to the State Senate for concurrence on June 7 after passing the Assembly. Once amendments are addressed, the bill will be delivered to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who can sign it into law.
On a national level, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate colleagues have asked the U.S. Department of Treasury “to create a uniform, clear federal guidance on directing payment card networks and financial institutions to implement the new Merchant Category Code (MCC) for firearm and ammunition retailers.”
“Credit cards have also facilitated fraudulent gun purchases, as MCC codes are a key tool for identifying suspicious credit card purchases,” Gillibrand said by email. “Card networks and financial institutions can use an MCC code, in combination with other data points, to evaluate patterns of transactions associated with criminal activity and report high-risk activity to bank regulators or law enforcement.”
Gillibrand is also calling for a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network advisory about purchasing patterns that financial institutions should identify when monitoring suspicious transactions at firearm retailers.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
Great idea, I mean gang bangers & criminals go to a gun shop & use a credit card, right? Idiot politicians.
Exactly,
As if the KKK, Neo Nazi’s, Skinheads, and suburban drug traffickers and the like do too.
This only targets laws abiding citizens trying to protect themselves and their homes.