Credit Card Companies in Tennessee are in Violation of New State Laws

Credit Card Companies Tracking GUN PURCHASES

Three of the biggest credit card companies in the country are receiving a warning from the Republican attorney general on their intentions to start adhering to a new state law prohibiting the particular marking of firearm purchases.

 

“While federal law requires some financial institutions to report transactions that are highly indicative of money laundering or other unlawful activities,” the Tennessee Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act states that “neither federal nor state law authorizes financial institutions to surveil and track lawful activities by customers in cooperation with law enforcement.” The Act takes effect on July 1.

 

“The creation or maintenance of records of purchases of firearms or ammunition or the tracking of sales made by a retailer of firearms or ammunition by a nongovernmental entity, including a financial institution, without a substantial and historical business need or a requirement imposed by law, may frustrate the right to keep and bear arms and violate the reasonable privacy rights of lawful purchasers of firearms or ammunition,” according to the law.

 

Attorney General of Tennessee Jonathan Skrmetti, however, states that recent conversations with Mastercard, Visa, and American Express Inc. “have raised concerns that [those] institutions may not be taking appropriate measures to comply with the act.”

“The credit card companies have known this is coming and need to be prepared to comply with Tennessee’s new Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act the day it goes into effect,” Skrmetti stated. “If they are not able to do that, I will not hesitate to enforce the law duly enacted by the elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.”

 

 

The European-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) decided in September 2022 to develop and implement a merchant category code (MCC) that will exclusively target firearm merchants.

 

Skrmetti stated in a letter to the credit card firms on Wednesday that the idea “came from American activists and politicians attempting an international end-run around our legislative process after their initial efforts failed to pass.”

 

 

“Your companies could have objected to this action as participants in the ISO policymaking process, but you chose not to.” The politicization of what ought to be an impartial financial infrastructure is directly responsible for the difficulties you currently face,” he stated.

 

Visa and Mastercard announced in March 2023 that they had ceased adhering to the ISO code. Visa stated at the time that the suspension was due to “significant confusion and legal uncertainty in the payments ecosystem.”

 

However, Skrmetti claims that after having “recent discussions” with the businesses, he became concerned that their level of compliance would not be “sufficient.” We’re interested in seeing how Visa and Mastercard will respond in the coming months.