Democratic Senators Call on the Department of Justice to Take Action Against Credit Cards that Refuse to Snoop on Firearm Purchases
Jose Nino
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In the middle of March, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Treasury to take decisive action to enact financial tracking of gun and ammunition purchases following announcements from credit card giants such as Discover, Mastercard, and Visa that they would not be tracking purchases of ammunition and firearms.
According to a previous report by Breitbart News, Visa succumbed to pressure from civilian disarmament groups and New York Democrats by implementing a policy that would flag ammo and purchases through the establishment of a new merchant category (MCC) code. Per an Associated Press report, Mastercard and other credit card titans also agreed to flag firearm sales.
On September 11, 2022, Breitbart News pointed out that Visa caved to pressure from gun control groups and New York Democrats, agreeing to flag gun and ammo purchases via a new merchant category (MCC) code. The Associated Press observed that Mastercard and other major credit card companies also agreed to flag gun sales.
On March 2, 2023, Discover had plans of tracking ammo and gun purchases. This new policy would have been implemented at the start of April 2023. However, there was significant pushback from gun rights activists and right-wing leaders. Mastercard and Visa eventually changed their policies and announced that they would not start tracking ammo and gun purchases anytime soon. Soon, Discover announced that it would also not start tracking firearm purchases in April as initially announced.
In response to these developments, Melendez and Warren issued a press release where they called on the DOJ and Treasury to intervene and “provide guidance” for financial institutions to embrace the new MCC code and keep tabs on ammo and gun purchases.
Menendez and Warren conceded that resistance from red states had caused the companies to reverse course, noting, “This effort comes on the heels of recent developments, in which Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have paused the implementation of the new MCC code because some Republican-led states are actively working to block its enactment.”
Menendez and Warren wrote the following:
We urge Treasury and DOJ to quickly publish any policy advisory, enforcement guidance, and other materials needed by financial institutions, retailers, and law enforcement as the new MCC code is implemented for gun and ammunition stores. … We also ask Treasury, with input from the DOJ, to issue guidance to financial institutions regarding circumstances that should prompt financial firms to file a suspicious activity report about transactions they suspect are related to trafficking in firearms, money laundering proceeds from trafficking in firearms, or other criminal activity.
AWR Hawkins of Breitbart News highlighted the level of Democratic support that Menendez’s and Warren’s proposal enjoys in the US Senate:
Menendez and Warren are now urging the DOJ and Treasury to get involved and secure compliance with the code. Their effort is supported by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bob Casey (D-PA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM).
None of this gun control push is organic. It’s the product of Gun Control Inc. lobbying and pressure campaigns directed towards the private sector. Gun controllers know they can’t pass gun control through conventional legislative means at the federal level, so they’re turning to the private sector to do so.
Conservatives should obviously protest and even boycott these companies. However, they shouldn’t stop there. Once in power, the nationalist Right must be ready to drop the legislative hammer on public and private entities that try to undermine God-given freedoms such as the Second Amendment.
It’s the only way to put these bad actors in their place.
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