JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced on Tuesday that his office joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general in sending a letter to Stephen J. Squeri (CEO of American Express, Inc.), Michael Miebach (CEO of Mastercard, Inc.), and Alfred F. Kelly Jr. (CEO of Visa, Inc.) opposing their decision to enact the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) Merchant Category Code, which involves applying a separate code identifying sales at U.S. gun stores.
According to bankrate.com, a merchant category code is a four-digit number used by credit card companies to classify businesses. A business MCC indicates the types of services or goods being sold to customers. MCCs are important for businesses to know because the code influences whether or not a business owner can report certain payments on a Form 1099-MISC. An MCC also affects whether or not a business can charge a convenience fee on credit card payments.
“The creation of a Merchant Category Code for sales at U.S. gun stores will not only not accomplish its intended goal, but is rife for misuse and abuse,” said Attorney General Schmitt.
The letter asserts that “purposefully tracking this information can only result in its misuse, either unintentional or deliberate,” and that “creating 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.”
In addition to Missouri, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Hampshire and Virginia signed on to the letter.
The letter can be read here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2022/pr22-36-letter.pdf
