House Passes Bill Blocking 1 Merchant Code for Gun Retailers
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 17
House Passes Bill Blocking 1 Merchant Code for Gun Retailers
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 17
Summary
The House quietly approved the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act, which would bar banks and card networks from using a firearms-specific merchant category code.
Under the bill, gun sellers would instead be classified under broader categories such as general merchandise or sporting goods, limiting transaction-level tracking tied to firearm retailers.
The measure strikes at a monitoring tool pushed after the 2018 Parkland school shooting, when advocates argued payment data could help flag suspicious buying patterns before mass shootings.
If enacted, the bill would mark a further rollback of financial-sector efforts to identify gun-purchase trends, shifting the balance toward purchaser privacy over transaction surveillance.