Governors Sign Bills Barring Credit Cards From Tracking Gun Sales in Utah and Indiana

Governors Eric Holcomb (R-IN) and Spencer Cox (R-UT) both signed bills last week to prohibit credit cards from tracking firearm sales information in their states.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reported the signing of the bills on March 18, 2024.

The Indiana bill was HB 1084 and the Utah bill was HB 406.

NSSF noted, “The laws are designed to protect the privacy of lawful and private firearm and ammunition purchases from being abused for political purposes by corporate financial service providers and unlawful government search and seizure of legal and private financial transactions.”

Texas, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia have similar prohibitions against credit card companies tracking gun information.

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 code. The Associated Press observed that Mastercard and other major credit card companies also agreed to flag gun sales.

There was strong pushback against the new code and on March 9, 2023, Breitbart News reported that Visa and Mastercard pivoted and announced they would not begin tracking gun and ammunition purchases anytime soon. Discover followed suit and halted its plans for tracking gun sales as well.

However, on February 13, 2024, Breitbart News noted out that Visa, Mastercard, and American Express were implementing a new merchant category code to track guns in California in compliance with a new law there. The Washington Examiner reported that the law requiring credit cards to track gun sales goes into effect in California in 2025.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.