Latest news with #SecondAmendmentFinancialPrivacyAct
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill would ban credit card coding of gun and ammunition sales in SC
Guns are shown at Caso's Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, New Jersey, which has been open since 1967. (Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/New Jersey Monitor) COLUMBIA— Legislation advancing in the state House would ban credit card companies from tracking sales of guns or ammunition and ensure no government agency in South Carolina keeps a registry of gun owners. Similar legislation has already been signed into law in other Republican-led states. The bill, dubbed the 'Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act,' is set for discussion Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee. It would leave enforcement to the state attorney general. Any government or company that ignores a warning to cease and desist would face a fine of up to $1,000 per violation. 'We wanted to prevent anything that would infringe on gun owners' rights,' the bill's lead sponsor, Rep. Bobby Cox, R-Greer, told the SC Daily Gazette after a House panel unanimously advanced the bill. The bill has the backing of the chamber's GOP leaders. The 34 co-sponsors include House Speaker Murrell Smith and House Majority Leader Davey Hiott. The proposal does not apply to gun ownership records kept during the 'regular course of a criminal investigation and prosecution.' Legislation similar to the South Carolina proposal started popping up around the country after the International Organization for Standardization, a Switzerland-based group that creates international business standards, approved in September 2022 the creation of unique codes — called merchant category codes — for stores that sell guns and ammunition. Businesses are coded for all sales made with a credit or debit card, whether at a restaurant, a clothing store or the grocery. In addition to banks using the codes to track rewards programs, the coding helps with business accounting systems and tax records. Advocates that pushed for a separate code for gun stores, led by New York-based Amalgamated Bank, argued it was a safety measure that could reduce mass killings. 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. Critics of the coding say law-abiding gun owners could be unfairly profiled and tracked as a result. South Carolina's Alan Wilson was among 24 attorneys general nationwide who signed a letter to the heads of American Express, Mastercard and Visa less than two weeks after the international group approved codes for gun stores. 'Generating a 'list of gun buyers' creates the obvious risk that law-abiding consumers' information will be leaked, discovered, hacked, or otherwise obtained and misused by those who oppose Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights,' read the letter dated Sept. 20, 2022. At least 17 states have passed laws similar to South Carolina's bill, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearm trade association. They include Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama. Legislators in North Carolina are considering a similar law. The laws were initially preventive measures that didn't do anything, since banks hadn't adopted the coding. But then California passed a law in September 2023 requiring banks and credit card companies to use the codes, followed by Colorado and New York. The codes must be assigned to gun stores in those states by May 1. A bill that would ban the tracking nationwide was introduced last month in the U.S. House. Its 95 co-sponsors include Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina's Second District. 'It's a real issue that is out there,' Neil Rashley, chief attorney for the South Carolina Bankers Association, said last week. 'But it's kind of in flux. With some states requiring the codes and others banning their use, Rashley said companies with national operations will likely have to hire extra staff to ensure they're following the rules for each state. The bankers' association is not taking a position on the bill. Rashley said he's confident banks in South Carolina are not using the gun shop codes, nor do they have any plans to do so. 'We certainly understand your concerns, and we're not standing in opposition to it,' he said.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New bill aims to keep gun owners' information private
Columbia S.C. (WSPA) – A bill in the House aims to keep gun owner's information private. This new bill would limit banks from having what some supporters call 'financial surveillance.' 19 states have passed a bill called the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act. It would ban banks from tracking purchases of firearms and ammunition. 'Make sure that gun owners have their rights or fully stored and that, retailers also aren't being punished, or that credit card companies aren't offering incentives to flag these kinds of purchases,' said Representative Case Brittain (R – Horry). Supporters of the bill said they are worried banks could interfere because of their ability to keep track of gun purchases. 'It prevents Government entities that aren't doing the regular course of business and recordkeeping and criminal logs, ones that are already in existence, from creating their own list. It protects the data for the individual gun owners' rights,' Brittain added. Neil Rashley, General Counsel for South Carolina Bankers Association, said that his office is not in opposition, but is worried about the wording of the bill. 'I'm concerned because it creates a cause of action on our industry should this occur. However, 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.' Representative Jason Luck (D – Chesterfield) showed concern about the section which said 'The Attorney General shall investigate reasonable allegations.' Luck added, 'does that language give you any concern in terms of vagueness or mandatory investigation?' Rashley added, 'No, sir, I mean, we're very accustomed to similar language, and, with the Attorney General's Office and how they assess looking into allegations.' As it stands, the language in the bill did not change and the Attorney General's Office would be in charge of investigating violations of the bill. California has adopted the opposite language where credit card companies are required to track firearm purchases. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NC House committee advances 'Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act'
House Bill 38 would prohibit card networks like Visa or Mastercard from using a specific firearms code for recording transactions or from maintaining any sort of firearms registry. (Photo: Aristide Economopoulos/for NJ Monitor Rep. Reece Pyrtle (R-Rockingham) told colleagues Tuesday that his efforts to pass the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act stems from a merchant category code that was created in 2022 for gun and ammunition sellers. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved the code as a way to identify suspicious and potentially illegal weapons purchases. At the time, groups like Everytown for Gun Safety praised the specific merchant category code ('MCC') noting that it could provide necessary data for banks and law enforcement to identify transactions that may be related to mass shootings or other gun-related crimes. Rep. Pyrtle told members of the House Commerce committee that this code, which would appear when a firearms purchase is made by credit card, creates a burden on lawful gun owners. 'The surveillance causes a significant and chilling effect on individuals in North Carolina wishing to exercise in their federal and state constitutional rights to keep and bear arms,' Pyrtle explained. House Bill 38 would prohibit payment card networks like Visa or Mastercard from using a firearms code for recording transactions or from maintaining any sort of firearms registry. 'This is really a piece of legislation that I think is protecting individuals from industries outside this country and the individuals from private sector from collecting data,' said Pyrtle. Pyrtle's bill would also grant North Carolina's Attorney General the power to investigate any alleged violation by the credit card networks and assess civil penalties. Rep. Bryan Cohn (D-Granville) questioned whether the legislation might have an unintended consequence of making it more difficult to investigate gun-related crimes. 'There's a federal law that prohibits a firearms list of ownership. You're not supposed to do that,' said Pyrtle, a retired police chief. 'And as an investigator, I can always go to the federal firearms licensed dealer and request a search as part of my investigation.' Three states – California, Colorado, and New York – were the first to pass legislation that would require the unique category code for gun and ammunition sales. Sixteen states have passed legislation that bans the use of the merchant category code for gun store purchases. Pushback from gun rights groups has largely prompted the larger credit card companies to pause their use of the specific code. House Bill 38 advanced on a voice vote Tuesday and now moves to the House Judiciary I Committee.
