The National Rifle Association is slamming the credit card industry's new effort to track gun purchases, describing the plan as 'creating a national registry of gun owners.'
Merchant category codes are four-digit codes that describe the retailer where a purchase is made, without detailing the specific item bought. These codescredit-card issuers to track and restrict purchases — for instance, offering rewards credit cards that give bonus points for travel purchases or cash-back on grocery spending.
Advocates for the new code for firearms merchants say it could help law enforcement spot suspicious purchasing patterns, potentially averting mass shootings where gun purchases were financed by credit cards. in 2012 charged more than $9,000 worth of guns, ammunition and tactical gear in the two months before his attack, which killed 12 people and injured 70.
Gun control advocates, along with two of the country's largest public pension funds, have supported use of the code. Merchant category codes now exist for almost every kind of purchase, including those made at supermarkets, clothing stores, coffee shops and many other retailers.
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