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| Photo by Stephen Andrews |
Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
April 1, 2025
COLUMBIA, SC – (PE) A bill aimed to protect the financial
privacy of gun owners is gaining momentum in the South Carolina House, targeting
credit card companies to stop them from using specific merchant category codes
(MCCs) to track firearm and ammunition purchases in the Palmetto State.
The "Second
Amendment Financial Privacy Act" (House Bill 3930), the legislation
passed unanimously through a House Judiciary subcommittee last week and is now
headed to the full House Judiciary Committee for further debate.
Introduced by Rep. Bobby Cox (R-Greer), a
former Army Ranger, Iraq War veteran and strong Second Amendment advocate, the
bill responds to growing concerns among gun rights supporters about potential
"financial surveillance."
“South Carolinians shouldn’t have to worry about their constitutional rights
being tracked by their credit card statements,” Cox said during a recent
hearing. “The bill ensures that law-abiding citizens can exercise their
freedoms without fear of a backdoor registry.”
Protective legislation similar to South Carolina’s proposal started
to be introduced around the nation after the International Organization for
Standardization, an international nongovernmental group based in Switzerland
that creates international business standards, approved
in September 2022 the creation of unique MCC for stores that sell guns and
ammunition, a move that some fear could enable banks or even the government to
monitor lawful gun buyers.
The legislation prohibits financial institutions operating
in South Carolina from assigning MCCs that distinguish firearm retailers from
other merchants. It also empowers the state Attorney General to investigate
violations, with fines of up to $1,000 per instance after a 30-day warning
period.
South Carolina Attorney
General Alan Wilson, a vocal supporter, testified that such codes represent
a "slippery slope" toward profiling gun owners, reinforcing the
bill’s urgency.
Wilson was among 24 attorneys general nationwide who signed
a letter to heads of American Express, Mastercard and Visa less than two
weeks after the international group approved codes for gun stores that states the
codes would “not protect safety” and unfairly singles out law-abiding merchants
and consumers.”
“Purposely tracking this information can only result in its misuse, either
unintentional or deliberate. Creating and tracking this data only matters if
your institutions are considering using that information to take further,
harmful action-like infringing upon consumer privacy, inhibiting
constitutionally protected purchases by selectively restricting the use of your
payment systems, or otherwise withholding your financial services from targeted
‘disfavored’ merchants,” the letter reads. “And generating a ‘list of gun
buyers’ creates the obvious risk that law-abiding consumer’s information will
be leaked, discovered, hacked, or otherwise obtained and misused by those who
oppose Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
Opposition to the bill has been minimal in South Carolina
with most critics coming from national gun control advocacy groups such as Everytown
for Gun Safety, who argue that MCCs is a safety measure that could help
reduce mass killings and help detect illegal gun purchases, citing cases where
transaction data aided investigations into mass shootings.
The killers in mass shootings such as the July 2012 Aurora,
Colorado, movie theater; the June 2016 Orlando nightclub; and the 2017 Las
Vegas music festival all bought thousands of dollars’ worth of guns ahead of
the massacres, according
to a report by The New York Times.
Banks in South Carolina have not and are currently not
implementing MCCs and major card companies like Visa and Mastercard have paused
a broader rollout making the South
Carolina Bankers Association question the bill’s necessity.
"We do feel fairly confident that at least banks are
not doing this in the state, or really anywhere right now, and right now, the
card networks aren’t," said Neil Rashley, Senior Vice President, SCBA,
suggesting the legislation might impose unneeded regulations.
But supporters of the
bill argue the measure is a proactive defense against future overreach.
"Even if banks aren’t using these codes now, we need to stop it before it
starts," a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association said. The NRA
has endorsed similar laws in 19 other states.
A nationwide ban on the tracking of gun purchases has been introduced
in the U.S. House. One of the bills 95 co-sponsors includes South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson (R) SC-2
California adopted legislation in September 2023 with opposite language where
credit card companies are required
to track firearm purchases. Colorado and New York followed. The codes must
be assigned to gun stores in those states by May 1.
Legislators in North Carolina are
considering a similar law.
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Tony Spain writes for his own website, Palmetto Examiner. He is a former candidate for Richland County Council 2020 and an award winning former military photographer and journalist while in the Public Affairs Office for the U.S. Army. His photos and writing have been published in numerous publications such as The Commercial News, Danville, Ill.; The Paraglide, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Soldier of Fortune Magazine; The State Newspaper, Columbia, S.C., and more. He currently writes for his own website, Palmetto Examiner
He lives in Columbia, S.C.
What Say You? Got something you'd like to say? Letter to the Editor (Guest Column), praises, criticism, hate mail, news story tip or just want to say, howdy. Send them to Tony@palmettoexaminer.com
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