As the first state to mandate that credit card firms provide unique merchant codes to gun retailers, California is moving closer to gun control.
According to reports, the new law will “flag suspicious gun and ammunition sales in California.” Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) introduced as AB 1587 , and on September 26, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law. Although shops have until May 1, 2025, to comply, it became a law on July 1.
Ting said., “To stop our epidemic of gun violence, we must use every tool at our disposal.” Financial institutions can now participate in our initiatives since they are in a unique position to identify purchasing trends that others are unable to. Other businesses have already been issued merchant codes; the gun industry ought to be one of them as well.
RELATED STORIES
Known as an MCC (merchant category code), the four-digit designation is assigned to nearly all industries. Gun stores used to be included in the sporting goods categories, but in California, they will now be classified separately.
Multiple stories state that Mastercard, Visa, and American Express agreed in 2023 to create special merchant codes for merchants of firearms, but later reversed their decision in response to criticism from Second Amendment supporters. Since the California bill was approved, they are now back in.
Following suit, Colorado and New York f will soon impose MCC code restrictions on firearms dealers. Sixteen states, including Texas, Florida, Montana, Tennessee, Georgia, Iowa, and Wyoming, passed laws outlawing them, while three states continued with the requirement.
