To prohibit payment card networks and covered entities from requiring the use of or assigning merchant category codes that distinguish a firearms retailer from general-merchandise retailer or sporting-goods retailer, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Moore of West Virginia (for himself, Mr. Barr, Mr. …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act prohibits credit card companies (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and payment processors from using special merchant category codes to identify gun stores. The bill requires these companies to classify firearms retailers the same way they classify general merchandise stores or sporting goods stores. This prevents the payment card industry from tracking or distinguishing firearms purchases through transaction data.
Who Benefits and How
Gun stores and firearms retailers benefit directly by avoiding specialized categorization that could subject them to financial tracking, discrimination, or additional scrutiny. They gain the right to file complaints with the Department of Justice if payment networks violate this prohibition. Firearms and ammunition manufacturers benefit indirectly as their retail distribution channels face less risk of payment processing restrictions. Gun rights advocacy groups achieve a policy goal of protecting firearms purchase privacy. Individual gun buyers benefit from enhanced financial privacy, as their firearms purchases cannot be specifically identified through merchant category codes in credit card data.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Payment card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and payment processors face new compliance requirements and restrictions on how they categorize merchants. They must modify their merchant classification systems and implement ongoing monitoring to ensure firearms retailers are not assigned distinguishing codes. Financial institutions lose granular transaction data on firearms purchases, which may affect fraud detection, risk management, and compliance capabilities. The Department of Justice must establish a complaint process within 90 days, investigate all complaints received, issue violation notices, potentially file federal court injunctions, and submit annual reports to Congress—all requiring new resources and personnel. State and local governments lose all authority to regulate merchant category codes for firearms retailers due to complete federal preemption of this policy area. Gun safety advocacy organizations lose a potential tool for monitoring firearms sales patterns. Law enforcement agencies may lose a data source for investigating firearms trafficking or suspicious purchasing patterns.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits payment card networks from requiring firearms retailers to use merchant category codes that distinguish them from general merchandise or sporting goods stores
- Prohibits payment processors from assigning firearms-specific merchant category codes
- Creates Attorney General enforcement mechanism with complaint process open to individuals and firearms retailers
- Requires the Attorney General to investigate all complaints and issue 30-day cure notices for violations
- Authorizes the Attorney General to seek federal court injunctions against violators who do not remedy violations within 30 days
- Explicitly bars creation of any private right of action (only government can enforce)
- Preempts all state and local laws regulating merchant category codes for firearms retailers
- Requires annual reports to Congress on investigations, case dispositions, and effectiveness of the Act
- Defines key terms including firearms, ammunition, firearms retailer, covered entity, merchant category code, and payment card network
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Prohibits payment card networks from using merchant category codes that distinguish firearms retailers from general merchandise or sporting goods retailers.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Prevent financial tracking and potential discrimination against firearms purchases by prohibiting specialized merchant codes for firearms retailers"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Firearms retailers (gun shops)
- Firearms and ammunition manufacturers
- Gun rights advocacy groups
- Firearms purchasers (privacy protection)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Payment card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover)
- Payment processors and acquirers
- Financial institutions issuing credit/debit cards
- Gun safety advocacy groups (lose data tracking tool)
- Law enforcement (potentially reduces financial surveillance capability)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General of the United States
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Has the meaning given the term in section 921(a)(17)(A) of title 18, United States Code
Any entity that establishes a relationship with a merchant for the purposes of processing credit, debit, or prepaid transactions; or establishes a relationship with an entity that establishes a relationship with a merchant for the purposes of processing credit, debit, or prepaid transactions
Has the meaning given the term in section 921(a)(3), (5), (7), (16), (29), (30) of title 18, United States Code
A person or entity engaged in the lawful business of selling or trading firearms or ammunition to be used in firearms
A multi-digit code, issued by the International Organization for Standardization, for the purposes of enabling the classification of merchants into specific categories based on the type of business, trade or services supplied
An entity that directly or through a licensed member, processor, or agent provides proprietary services, infrastructure, or software, or hardware that route information used to authorize, clear and settle credit card and debit card transactions
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology