Congresswoman Tenney Demands Answers from Credit Card Companies About Capitulation to Anti-2A Lobby

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) yesterday joined with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21) in letters to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express demanding answers about their implementation of a new Merchant Category Code (MCC) for firearms retailers. Anti-Second Amendment advocates have long advocated for a specific MCC for firearms retailers so that credit card companies can flag what they deem to be “suspicious” purchases, potentially infringing on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.

On September 9, 2022, the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) announced the creation of a new MCC for firearms retailers. Since then, major credit card companies, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, have announced intentions to adopt the new MCC. With the adoption of the code, liberal elected officials are now urging credit card companies to flag “suspicious” transactions on firearm sales and to file these with law enforcement. This decision by the ISO sets a dangerous precedent, and how credit card companies implement this new MCC will have a great effect on how these transactions are reviewed and flagged for further government scrutiny.

In part, the lawmakers wrote, “Of course, there is no accepted, consistent, scientific, or legitimate way to determine from this data what is and what is not a 'suspicious' purchase. A gun control advocate could view any desire to own or obtain a firearm as per se suspicious. Instead, this is a transparent attempt to chill the exercise of constitutionally protected rights and to circumvent existing legal restrictions on the creation of firearm registries by the government.”

The full text of the letter to Visa is available here.

The full text of the letter to Mastercard is available here.

The full text of the letter to American Express is available here.

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