Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) warns that credit card companies have positioned themselves to track gun purchases and is asking the big three–Visa, Mastercard, and American Express–why they are inserting themselves into Second Amendment issues.
Breitbart News noted that Visa caved to Democrat pressure, announcing September 10, 2022, that it would change the way the company categorizes sales of guns and gun-related items.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), New York Democrat lawmakers, and Gabby Giffords’ gun control group, Giffords, had all urged Visa to make this move.
Mastercard and American Express are redoing their merchant categorization for gun sales too, and Mastercard went so far as to praise Congress for the gun control laws that legislators passed earlier this year.
Business Insider/Yahoo News pointed to a statement from Mastercard in which the credit card company said: “We understand and appreciate the significant policy imperative in reducing gun violence and see the recent bipartisan action in Congress as a positive step. We believe it is that type of effort that will meaningfully address the tragic gun violence facing the country.”
Sen. Hawley warns that new, gun-specific categories will be used for “tracking gun purchases, making it easier to track gun owners – and to stop sales.”
A man looks at cases of firearms in the halls of the Indianapolis Convention Center on Thursday, April 25, 2019, where the National Rifle Association will be holding its 148th annual meetings. (AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane)
In a letter to Visa, Mastercard, and American Express dated September 13 Hawley wrote, “I write to express serious concern with your decision to separately categorize gun-related purchases from other retail transactions made with your payment cards that so firearm purchases can be more easily tracked.”
He noted, “This new system is ripe for abuse and brings to mind similar policies of Big Tech companies and payment processors that have targeted law-abiding Americans for engaging in constitutionally protected activities. I urge to you to immediately reverse course.”
On September 12 Breitbart News reported that Gun Owners of America, the National Rifle Association, and the Second Amendment Foundation were all warning that the credit card companies’ capitulation to Democrat pressure to recategorize gun purchases sets the stage for gun sale data collection.
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 Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History from Texas Tech University. His PhD is focused 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.