AG asks banks, credit card companies to not track gun and ammunition purchases

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) — Attorney General Daniel Cameron has joined 23 other attorneys general in a letter asking banks and three credit card companies to avoid tracking and monitoring gun and ammunition purchases.

The letter says the call comes after the International Organization for Standardization created a Merchant Category Code for gun stores to use when processing credit and debit card transactions.

According to Reuters, the MCC clears the way for banks that process gun retailers’ payments to decide whether to assign the new code to merchants. The code would help monitors track where an individual spends money, but would not show what specific items were purchased.

The credit card companies listed specifically in the letter include American Express, Mastercard and Visa.

The attorneys general say the new code won’t protect public safety and that it “singles out law-abiding merchants and consumers”.

“Tracking and monitoring firearm and ammo purchases place the information of Kentucky’s law-abiding gun owners at risk of being misused by those who oppose the exercise of our Second Amendment rights,” said Cameron in a press release to ABC 36.

Other states included in the letter are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming and West Virginia.

To read the full letter, click here.