AG Knudsen statement on Visa and Mastercard decision to ‘pause’ plan to enable tracking of firearm purchases

HELENA – In response to reports that Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover have decided to ‘pause’ the implementation of a merchant category code for the processing of firearms purchases from gun stores, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued the following statement:

“These major credit card companies came to the correct conclusion. However, they shouldn’t just ‘pause’ their implementation of this plan—they should end it definitively. This measure will do nothing to improve public safety while invading consumer privacy and inviting coordination between corporations and government agencies to erode Americans’ fundamental right to keep and bear arms.”

In September, Attorney General Knudsen led a 24-state coalition calling on the chief executive officers of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to abandon the plan for the firearm merchant category code and alerting them that it would potentially violate consumer protection and antitrust laws.