Introduction
Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) are four-digit identifiers used by payment networks to broadly categorize a merchant’s line of business (e.g., grocery, hardware, sporting goods). Recently, the creation and contemplated use of a firearm-specific MCC has raised concerns that financial institutions could flag, track, and/or halt lawful purchases by hunters and recreational shooters. To protect the privacy of lawful firearm owners and shield them from potential discrimination, which would dissuade participation in their outdoor pursuits and thereby decrease the significant revenue that their purchases generate through the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF), policies should be enacted that ensure lawful transactions between firearm retailers and sportsmen and women are treated like other purchases and categorized only as general merchandise or sporting goods rather than tracked under a firearm-specific code.
Issue
A firearm-specific MCC would allow financial institutions or third parties to differentiate retailers that sell firearms and ammunition from other sporting-goods or general retailers, potentially enabling the monitoring or denial of lawful purchases. MCCs do not reveal the specific items bought (e.g., a pop-up blind or hiking boots vs. a shotgun), but a distinct code for all firearm retailers would create a pathway for targeted surveillance and de-facto registries that can deter participation in hunting and recreational shooting. Both hunters and target shooters generate significant conservation funding through the ASCF, and firearm-specific MCCs not only infringe on the rights of lawful gun owners and any person or entity that conducts business with firearm and ammunition retailers but also stand to harm the conservation efforts of America’s storied fish and wildlife resources.
Points of Interest
- Currently, twenty states have enacted laws that prohibit the use of a firearm-specific Merchant Category Code (AL, AR, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KY, LA, MS, MT, NH, ND, OH, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, WY) while three states have enacted laws mandating them (CA, CO, NY).
- A nonpartisan bill analysis conducted by the California Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions on CA AB 1587 acknowledged that the argument that MCCs could prevent gun violence “seems specious,” considering that “gun and ammunitions purchases are already approved and recorded in a database administered by DOJ,” and therefore “the additional value of transactions coded with the gun MCC is unclear.”[1]
- New Hampshire (2024): HB 1186 (Firearm Purchaser’s Privacy Act) was signed into law in July 2024 and prohibits assigning and using a firearm-specific MCC and requires retailers to use general merchandise or sporting-goods codes.[2]
- Kentucky (2024): HB 357 (“Second Amendment Privacy Act”) was enacted to prohibit payment card networks from requiring or incentivizing a firearm-specific MCC and bar lists/registries of privately owned firearms.[3]
- Utah (2024): HB 406 was enacted in 2024, prohibiting financial institutions from using firearm-specific MCCs by payment processors to track lawful purchases.[4]
- Arizona (2025): SB 1143 (“Firearms Transactions; Merchant Codes; Prohibition”) would have prohibited financial institutions from requiring firearm-specific MCCs and from distinguishing purchases at retailers that also sell firearms or ammo. Although the legislation made it to the Governor’s desk, it was vetoed.[5]
- Similarly, the Wisconsin General Assembly passed SB 466 in 2024, which would have prohibited financial institutions from tracking the sale of firearms by applying a specific MCC to differentiate firearm retailers from general sporting good retailers, while further prohibiting the government from maintaining a list of firearm owners in the State. The Governor vetoed the bill.[6]
- Nebraska (2025): LB 686 and 687, which both received committee hearings, together would have prohibited the use of distinct firearm-retailer MCCs and protect consumers/retailers and make it unlawful to refuse a good or service of any kind on the basis that the business is engaged in the lawful commerce of firearms and ammunition.[7]
- Conversely, legislation can also be enacted to guarantee that sportsmen and women lose privacy protections, as was passed in New York in 2024. Despite the efforts of CSF and others in the sporting community, AB 9862 was signed by the Governor, requiring that financial processors make and assign a firearm-specific MCC to firearms and ammunition retailers.[8]
Language
- Some specific examples of positive language include:
- Arkansas (HB 1509): “…(a)(1) A payment card network shall not require the use of a merchant category code that distinguishes a firearms retailer from other retailers.”
- Utah (HB 406): “(1) For the processing of a payment card transaction, a financial entity may not assign to a firearms retailer or require a firearms retailer to use the firearms code. (2) For purposes of the sale of a firearm, a firearm accessory or component, ammunition, or reloading supplies, a firearms retailer may not provide the firearms code to a financial entity. (3) A financial entity may not otherwise classify a firearms retailer separately from general merchandise retailers or sporting goods retailers.”
Moving Forward
State legislators should enact policies that protect financial privacy by prohibiting financial institutions from requiring or incentivizing the tracking of potential firearm or ammunition purchases through firearm-specific Merchant Category Codes and clarify that firearm retailers may only be assigned sporting-goods codes. Prohibiting the effective tracking of firearm owners through purchases stands to safeguard against sportsmen and women being dissuaded from participating in hunting and recreational shooting, which would in turn undermine participation in our time-honored outdoor traditions and thereby decrease the conservation funding revenue that state fish and wildlife agencies require to carry out their missions.
[1] California Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions – “Financial transactions; firearms mrchants; merchant category code,” July 5, 2023. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1587#
[2] Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “Granite State’s Privacy Protected with Governor’s Signature” The Sportsmen’s Voice, July 2024. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://congressionalsportsmen.org/news/granite-staters-privacy-protected-with-governors-signature/
[3] Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “Kentucky General Assembly Successfully Protects Hunter and Recreational Shooter Privacy” The Sportsmen’s Voice, April 2024. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://congressionalsportsmen.org/news/kentucky-general-assembly-successfully-protects-hunter-and-recreational-shooter-privacy/
[4] Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “Going Out with a Bang: Utah 2024 Legislative Session Ends with a Financial Privacy Victory for Gun Owners.” The Sportsmen’s Voice, March 2024. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://congressionalsportsmen.org/news/going-out-with-a-bang-utah-2024-legislative-session-ends-with-a-financial-privacy-victory-for-gun-owners/
[5] Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “Gunning for Good Policy in the Grand Canyon State: Two Good Firearms Bills on the Move,” The Sportsmen’s Voice, February 2025. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://congressionalsportsmen.org/news/gunning-for-good-policy-in-the-grand-canyon-state-two-good-firearms-bills-on-the-move/.
[6] Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “Wisconsin Governor Signs Some Sporting Bills, Vetoes Others.” The Sportsmen’s Voice, April 2024. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://congressionalsportsmen.org/news/wisconsin-governor-signs-some-sporting-bills-vetoes-others/.
[7] Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “Nebraska Legislation Protecting Firearm Retailers and Consumers on the Move,” The Sportsmen’s Voice, February 2025. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://congressionalsportsmen.org/news/nebraska-legislation-protecting-firearm-retailers-and-consumers-on-the-move/
[8] Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “Merchant Category Code Legislation Heads to New Yorks’ Governor’s Desk” The Sportsmen’s Voice, June 2024. Accessed October 17, 2025. https://congressionalsportsmen.org/news/merchant-category-code-legislation-heads-to-new-yorks-governors-desk/
