U.S. Senator Steve Daines called out the CEOs of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express for agreeing to adopt a separate category of transactions for gun shops making it easier to track and report gun sales. The CEOs decision came at the recommendation of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which has no authority over the affairs of American businesses.
“…This decision, which is already being hailed by radical anti-gun activists, is he first step towards backdoor gun control on law abiding Americans. Any change that seeks to impact a United States citizen’s ability to legally purchase a firearm belongs with Congress, not payment networks, international standard setting organizations, or the financial institutions that some of you serve,” Daines wrote.
“To be perfectly clear, your hand is not being forced. Creating a new merchant code for gun transactions is a choice being made by each of your companies. You are choosing the side of gun control advocates over the privacy and Second Amendment rights of millions of law-abiding Americans. You are choosing to insert yourselves into this political debate – which should only be fought at the ballot box and in Congress – and in doing so you are making clear that you are more than unbiased network operators seeking to maximize value for your customers and shareholders. You have become antigun activists yourselves, wittingly or not,” the letter continued.
Read full letter HERE.
