Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to prevent credit-card companies from tracking firearm and ammunition sales on Friday.
The bill (SB 214), approved during last week’s legislative session, will prevent credit-card companies from using a separate “merchant category code” (MCC) for sales at gun businesses.
MCC codes are retailer-specific codes, and a business that sells firearms and sporting goods would be subject to this new code, regardless of their overall sales. The use of MCCs specific to stores that sell firearms would lead to inflated statistics for firearm sales reported by creditors given that all cumulative sales would be categorized.
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Three major credit card companies have said that the use of MCCs would allow them to “manage risk” and assist in “combatting gun violence” by tracking consumer behavior, which is an extreme overreach into the private purchases of a consumer.
“We are all blessed to live in the Free State of Florida where our Second Amendment rights are valued and protected,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson. “Today, Florida is taking another bold step to protect Second Amendment rights by drawing a line in the sand that tells progressive financial institutions they cannot covertly track, monitor, and report data on Floridians’ firearm purchases – or else. I thank Governor DeSantis, Senator Burgess, and Representative Snyder for their bold and determined leadership to deliver real protections to Floridians on this emerging threat.”
House sponsor John Snyder, R-Stuart, said the proposal would protect the ability of Second Amendment supporters “to purchase and spend their money freely without fear of reprisal.”
Democrats argued the bill would interfere with businesses and hinder efforts to track guns used in violent incidents.
Similar four-digit codes are already used to separate purchases and collect data from places such as grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants and bookstores.
Last year, Visa, Mastercard and American Express announced plans to categorize gun-shop sales. But after Republican pushback in several states, the plans have been paused.
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“Our Governor doesn’t sit around and wait for a problem to occur,” said Senate President Kathleen Passidomo. “He is proactive. He anticipates the steps we need to take to protect our state and he takes action. Here in the free state of Florida, we are not going to allow government surveillance and control of people’s hard-earned assets or their banking and credit card transactions. Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, Florida will promote economic freedom and privacy from any potential overreach of the federal government or foreign governments, preserving the role of private commercial banks.”
The Republican-controlled House voted 83-32 to pass the bill, while the Senate approved it in a 27-11 vote. DeSantis has until May 26 to act on the proposal.
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