CONCORD, N.H. (Jan. 6, 2025) – A major step to protect privacy and push back gun control efforts went into effect last week in New Hampshire. The Firearm Purchaser’s Privacy Act now bans credit card companies from using a controversial merchant code to track firearm and ammunition purchases. By cutting off this data pipeline, New Hampshire has joined a growing movement of states working to thwart what critics describe as a backdoor attempt at mass surveillance and gun control through financial systems.
Rep. Jason Janvrin sponsored House Bill 1186 (HB1186). The new law prohibits a payment card network from requiring any New Hampshire merchant to use a “firearms code” defined as “the merchant category code 5723, approved in September 2022 by the International Organization for Standardization, for firearms retailers.”
The law also bars retailers from using such a code voluntarily.
“For the purposes of the sale of firearms, ammunition for use in firearms, and firearms accessories, a firearms retailer may not provide a firearms code to a payment card issuer or payment card network and may only use or be assigned a merchant category code for general merchandise retailers or sporting goods retailers.”
The legislation includes provisions empowering the state attorney general to enforce the law and impose civil penalties for violations.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 203-174. The Senate approved the measure by a 14-10 vote. Chris Sununu signed the bill into law on July 12, and it went into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
To date, at least 14 states have banned the use of firearms merchant codes.
IMPACT ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS
In response to legislation like HB1186, the major credit card payment networks “paused” implementation of the firearms merchant code in March 2023.
In an email to Reuters, a Mastercard representative said such bills would cause “inconsistency” in how the code could be applied by merchants, banks, and payment networks. The more states that ban such codes, the more likely this program gets scrapped permanently.
In July 2024, Visa and Mastercard told USA Today that they were only using the firearms code in the states that require it by law.
Additionally, data collected from this merchant code would almost certainly end up in federal government databases.
In a nutshell, without the code, the feds can’t gather and compile information on firearms purchases. When the state limits surveillance and data collection, it means less information the feds can tap into. This represents a major blow to the surveillance state and a win for privacy.
BACKGROUND
Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) have their roots in the IRS. They were created to classify different types of businesses and to identify the goods and services they sell. This was sold as an improvement for better tax reporting, and is still touted, as CNBC put it, as a tool to help “prevent things ranging from fraud to human trafficking.” But as is so often the case, “it’s for your safety” morphed into “so we can control you.”
In September 2022, the International Standards Organization, based in Switzerland, approved a new merchant category code for firearm and ammunition merchants. Many of the bills passed specifically reference the code “5723.”
In effect, the firearms code is a de facto gun registry.
In the letter to payment card networks, federal lawmakers stated that the new Merchant Category Code for firearms retailers would be “. . .the first step towards facilitating the collection of valuable financial data that could help law enforcement in countering the financing of terrorism efforts,” expressing a clear government expectation that networks will utilize the new Merchant Category Code to conduct mass surveillance of firearms and ammunition purchases in cooperation with law enforcement.
The more states that ban such codes, the more likely this program gets scrapped permanently.
- New Law in Effect: Alabama Repeals Capital Gains Taxes on Gold and Silver - January 6, 2025
- Firearm Purchaser’s Privacy Act Now in Effect in New Hampshire - January 6, 2025
- Oklahoma Bill Would Expand Gold and Silver as Legal Tender - January 6, 2025