Utah House Passes Bill to Prohibit Firearm Credit Card Codes

The Utah House of Representatives passed a bill this week that would prohibit credit card companies from implementing a new purchase code to track firearm purchases. It’s the latest in a string of bills filed by Republican-led states to keep credit card companies from monitoring firearms transfers.

The Law

The law, HB 406, would prohibit financial institutions like credit card companies from using merchant category code (MCC) 5723. This new code was created by the International Organization for Standards, based in Switzerland, specifically to track firearms-related sales worldwide.

The code applies to firearms, gun accessories, and ammunition.

The bill would also prohibit gun stores in Utah from using the code to report firearms sales to financial companies. Mississippi, Idaho, North Dakota, Montana, Texas, and Florida all passed similar laws last year.

The HB 406 will move on to the Republican-controlled Utah State Senate, who will likely approve it. Then, it’ll hit the desk of Republican Governor Spencer Cox, who will need to sign it into law. Chances are pretty good that HB 406 will become law in Utah this year.

Why it Matters

Gun control advocates say that this law will help law enforcement track suspicious purchases and stop crimes before they happen. But their opponents say that it’s a dangerous form of corporate-government overreach that essentially adds up to a backdoor gun registry.

These types of registries can be dangerous for gun owners. For one, there’s always the chance that a registry gets hacked, like when hackers stole the personal information of 192,000 registered firearms owners in California in 2022. This paints a target on the homes of gun owners, who may become victims of thefts.

There’s also a chance that state actors may use this kind of “soft registry” against gun owners in the event of a major change in government. The Taliban already did this last year when they used an American-made registry of gun owners in Afghanistan to hunt down possible opponents.

Long story short, the very existence of these kinds of databases is a threat to gun owners. Even if the people making the database are trustworthy, it can always fall into the wrong hands.

Final Thoughts

Earlier this month, I covered how credit card companies are working to comply with a California law that would require them to add a new credit card tracking code for firearm purchases. In that post, I included a quote from Robert B. Thompson III, a senior VP at Visa, who said:

"Given the conflicting state laws on this topic and the likelihood that other states will enact legislation to either restrict or mandate the code, our implementation pause remains in effect,”

This is one of those conflicting state laws. Until this mess gets sorted out and credit card companies can use one standard code across all markets, they’re not going to implement this law. I’m predicting that we’ll see some court cases surrounding these kinds of laws soon.

We’ll keep you posted about any updates in the meantime.