House passes bill preventing flagging of suspicious gun purchases

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, denounced the House passage of Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act (HR 1181). In 2022, at GIFFORDS’ urging, Visa, Mastercard and American Express adopted the new Merchant Category Code for federally licensed gun and ammunition dealers. The MCC allows authorities to be alerted if large amounts of firearms and ammunition are purchased, as they have in previous mass shootings. 

Between 2007 and 2020, there were five mass shootings where the shooter purchased their weapons using a credit card. In four of those five shootings, the shooter purchased guns, ammunition, and gear at stand-alone gun stores. Those shootings killed 145 people, and those sales would have been covered by the MCC code.

“The Merchant Category Code is a critical tool for catching traffickers and mass shooters. It doesn’t stop anyone from buying a gun or ammunition; it simply alerts authorities about suspicious activity. This is a commonsense way to stop mass shootings. But House Republicans’ vote today wasn’t about common sense – it was about money, and protecting gun company CEOs over American lives,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown.