Tag: #MCC

Firearm Sales, Cash or Credit?

Firearm Sales, Cash or Credit?

As I’ve pointed out in previous articles (links below), the latest assault on Second Amendment protected rights is being made through credit card transactions. By implementing the MCC of 5723 – Firearms Retailer – credit card issuing banks, the major credit card companies and even the transaction processors will now be able to stop firearm sales.  Unless blocked, this will be devastating to firearm retailers and their customers. So… cash? 

A quick sidetrack on the value of cash. 

Let’s say you take your crisp new $20 bill to your local store and make a purchase with it. That retailer gets $20.00 worth of value. That store goes to one of his suppliers and purchases something for $20. That supplier also gets $20.00 of value. That supplier uses that $20 to pay one of his contractors and the contractor gets $20.00 of value. This continues as long as that cash is being used. 

Now let’s say you go and use a credit card to your local store and make a purchase with it. With a straight swipe fee 3% (the typical range is 1%-3.5% plus or a flat rate), the store retains only $19.40 in value. If you calculate out the 3% for each consecutive transaction, that original $20 value is below $10 in 24 transactions, below $5 in 47. 

But we like the convenience and security of being able to use a credit card for a purchase instead of having to carry large amounts of cash or, heaven forbid, a checkbook. And that’s the logic of the finance elite wanting to get rid of cash in favor of a “digital currency”.  All the convenience of cash without having to carry cash. 

Of course, this convenience comes with a few strings attached such as the swipe fee, every purchase you make being tracked and the ability of “digital currency” to be programmed so it can only be spent on specified products, from specific retailers, in designated areas.  Does this sound like a good thing for you? 

Okay, back to cash or credit for firearm purchases. 

Under the current rollout plan, all firearm retailers in non-MCC 5723 prohibited states will be forcibly switched over to Firearms Retailer in 2025. Banks, the credit card companies, and even the processors will be able to say ‘we don’t want our cards used for gun and ammo purchases’ and deny the charges. THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING with some financial institutions.

Checks? Well, good luck finding a firearm retailer that will accept a check from someone who isn’t one of their best, longest-term customers. Even if they do, there’s no way of knowing the check is good before the transaction is complete and the firearm has walked out the door, even in a waiting period state. 

This leaves you with cash. With an average cost of a defensive type handgun running between $300 and $1,500, that’s a lot of cash to carry. (Yes, you can get new defensive type handgun for even cheaper, but please don’t.)

The point here is purchasing with cash, while a valid option, isn’t practical for most people. And if you go to your bank in person to withdraw a large sum of cash, your bank will most likely interrogate you as to why you want it… for security purposes. 

The truth is today, most people are going to be making small, medium and even large purchases with a credit card. It’s not always the best option for the retailer or even the customer if they don’t pay off their balance every month, but it’s the way we live. Restricting firearm purchases with the new Firearm Retailer credit card code will limit your ability to purchase firearms and ammunition when and where you want to. 

Fun story. Years ago, I was working at a firearm retailer, and a customer was paying in cash, as he always did. When I asked why he explained, as he was completing the Federal Form 4473, he didn’t want the government to know what he was purchasing. While he was kind of missing the whole point of the 4473, it appears he might have been a man ahead of his time. Not only was he keeping his bank and the government out of his purchase, but he was also making sure he would be able to make this purchase. 

Threats to our Second Amendment protected rights are not limited to do-nothing-for-public-safety gun control laws like waiting periods, universal background checks, bans on standard capacity magazines or so-called “assault weapon”. As they have with the original Operation Chokepoint, they include attempting to restrict our ability to purchase firearms. 

Numerous State Attorneys General, including my own, claim since ‘acquire’ isn’t in the plain text of the Second Amendment’s “keep and bear arms”, it is not protected by the Second Amendment. Fortunately, the courts have firmly rejected this argument, but this isn’t stopping the gun control community from going after it. They are now using the credit card industry itself to target your ability to use their banking services for firearms and ammunition purchases. 

For everyone – it’s time to let your federal representatives and senators know how you feel about this, even if they are traditionally gun control inclined. As we’ve already seen in the 118th Congress, even with a Republican majority in the House and Senate, the RINO crowd is strong and needs to be reminded if they aren’t going to represent our interests, then they can be replaced by someone who will. 

MCC 5723: Firearms Retailer https://oddstuffing.com/archives/1311
The Latest Operation Choke Point – Paused https://oddstuffing.com/archives/1030

Bob

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MCC 5723 – Firearms Retailer 

WAY BACK in March 2023, I wrote “I called The Latest Operation Choke Point – Paused” about the push of a new MCC (Merchant Category Code) for guns stores. Here’s an update. Without a legal requirement to do so, it is being pushed onto the industry, like it or not. 

As of January 2025, new merchants MUST be assigned the MCC of 5723, Firearms Retailer. This is being imposed on the credit card processors by payment gateway Authorize.net, a wholly owned subsidiary of Visa. The only places exempted are in those states that have outlawed the use of a specific merchant category code for firearms and firearm related businesses. 

The states that have mandated the use of this MCC are California, Colorado and New York.

The states that have outlawed the use of this MCC are Florida, Idaho, North Dakota, West Virginia, Texas, Montana, Mississippi, Utah, Iowa, Wyoming, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Alabama and Kentucky.

This means if you are in a state that has NOT outlawed it, but also NOT requiring it, you are getting it anyway. 

Why is this important? 

As I said in my original article, this has absolutely nothing to do with their stated purpose of being a law enforcement investigative tool. It was advertised as being all about ‘public safety’ by allowing credit card companies to flag suspicious purchases and report them to law enforcement, thereby (somehow) preventing mass shootings. 

IF the intention was to be able to track purchases made at a firearm retailer/Federal Firearms License (FFL), the credit card industry and gun-control zealots already had a way to do this. A quick trip to the ATFE (Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives) website allows you to download the complete current list of every FFL in the country in .xlsx, .txt or .pdf format. Even someone with prehistoric programming skills like me could write a program to flag sales from any firearm retailer in real time in about 15 minutes.

Side note: How many industries do you know where the entire list of retailers is available to everyone with only a click required to download it?

The actual purpose is to allow the card issuing banks, or even Visa and the other credit card companies themselves, to be able to deny credit card purchases from firearm retailers, period. Sadly, this is already occurring. There are already many reports around the country of banks who have denied their customers purchases at firearm retailers. Their moral high ground is they don’t want their company being used to legally purchase firearms. 

The new MCC would be much less of a burden for large retailers such as Bass Pro/Cabela’s, Walmart, etc. who already have multiple MCC’s for different areas of their stores. Therefore, denying purchases from the firearm retailer MCC would only stop purchase in the firearms area of the store. What this MCC can do is stop smaller firearm retailers from making any sales because they use a single credit card processor for all sales, firearms and non-firearm related.

Your local bank is the current battleground for your Second Amendment rights. Gun-control zealots have long pressured financial institutions into not working with firearms industry, from the largest manufacturers to your local mom-and-pop shop. Ask any firearm related business how difficult it is to get bank accounts or credit card processing in many areas of the country. The firearm retailer MCC is simply another attack on the ability of consumers to buy firearms.

Where do we go from here?

A new federal bill has been reintroduced this year, H.R. 7450: Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act. This would “prohibit payment card networks and covered entities from requiring the use of or assigning merchant category codes that distinguish a firearms retailer from general-merchandise retailer or sporting-goods retailer, and for other purposes.”


If you live in one of the states that has NOT yet outlawed the use of this MCC, it’s time for you to contact your elected representatives and ask/demand they put forth legislation to stop it. Yes, even if you live in a left wing dominated state like I do. 

For everyone – it’s time to let your federal representatives and senators know how you feel about this, even if they are traditionally gun control inclined. As we’ve already seen in the 118th Congress, even with a Republican majority in the House and Senate, the RINO crowd is strong and needs to be reminded if they aren’t going to represent our interests, then they can be replaced by someone who will. 

By the by, does it make sense now why they want to get rid of cash and go to digital currency? 

Bob

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The Latest Operation Choke Point – Paused

You may have heard about credit card companies adding a new merchant category code (MCC) specifically for “gun stores”. This was advertised as being all about ‘public safety’ by allowing credit card companies to flag suspicions purchases and report them to law enforcement, thereby preventing mass shootings. This is an outright lie and not even close to the actual purpose – to deny credit card purchases at firearms retailers. 

Let’s be crystal clear about what this is. It is NOT an attempt to create a firearm registry or flag suspicious purchases. It IS nothing more than a new version of Operation Choke Point, this time tageting the ability of consumers to make purchases at gun stores. 

For those that don’t remember, the original Operation Choke Point was the 2013 US Department of Justice program to ‘investigate’ banks who work with businesses such as firearms and ammunition dealers, businesses the DOJ claimed to be a high risk for fraud and money laundering. In reality, the goal was to intimidate financial institutions into cutting off banking services to these businesses, effectively closing them down. It ended in 2017 after multiple lawsuits and promises the DOJ would no longer issue informal and unwritten “suggestions” to banks, the mechanism used to coerce them. 

The new gun store MCC was issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO’s decision followed years of pressure from gun-control activist financial institutions such as Amalgamated Bank, gun-control lobbyists, and extreme left politicians to create the gun store specific code. US credit card processors, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, etc. would then implement them across their systems. 

Following the creation and planned implementation of the new MCC, Second Amendment supporters pointed out this could be used as a backdoor firearm registration system. Only due to the threated legal action of 24 red-state Attorneys General has the implementation plan by Visa, MasterCard and Discover been paused. American Express has not commented yet. 

IF the intention was to track purchases made at a firearm retailer/Federal Firearms License (FFL), the credit card industry and gun-control zealots already had a way to do this. A quick trip to the ATFE (Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives) website allows you to download the complete current list of every FFL in the country in .xlsx, .txt or .pdf format. Even someone with prehistoric programming skills like me could write a program to flag sales from any firearm retailer in real time in about 15 minutes. 

Side note: How many industries do you know where the entire list of retailers is available to everyone with only a click required to download it? 

Keep in mind credit card companies ONLY get a total amount submitted to them for approval. They do not have access to item, or SKU (stock keeping unit) level information. Therefore, a $10,000 purchase at someplace like Bass Pro could be a bunch of firearms and ammunition or a fishing boat and trailer. The credit card company, or any government entity, has no way of knowing. 

The true intent behind the new MCC is to allow your local bank, the people you get your Visa, etc. branded credit card from, the ability to deny your purchases from gun stores. They can, at their own discretion, implement a policy that says, ‘we don’t want to conduct business with the gun industry’ and not allow transactions at retailers as identified by this MCC. 

The new MCC would be much less of a burden for large retailers such as Bass Pro/Cabela’s, Walmart, etc. who already have multiple MCC’s for different areas of their stores. Therefore, denying purchases from the gun store MCC would only stop purchase in the firearms area of the store. What the gun store MCC can do is stop smaller firearm retailers from making any sales because they most often use a single credit card processor for all sales, firearms and non-firearm related. 

The rollout pause by the credit card processers is hardly the final word on the topic. Just as the 24 red-state Attorneys General have threated legal action if the new MCC is implemented in their state, you can be sure the blue-states will threaten legal action if they are NOT implemented. It’s possible a decisive action by Congress could put this to rest once in for all, however decisive action isn’t something we can expect from a RINO lead Congress. 

As if this isn’t bad enough, ponder what happens with the U.S. Digital Dollar currently being tested by the New York Federal Reserve Bank and several other major banks. This allows the introduction of “programmable” money. In the simplest terms, programable money can have built-in rules and constraints. With these rules, money can be programmed to have an expiration date or be restricted for certain goods. Instead of being able to spend your money on anything you like, you can only spend it on approved items at approved retailers. With programmable money you can control what people eat, what they read, where they travel and who they associate with. 

No, this isn’t a sci-fi alternative reality, it is being tested today. And it should terrify the living crap out of you. 

Your local bank is the current battleground for your Second Amendment rights. Gun-control zealots have long pressured financial institutions into not working with firearms industry, from the largest manufacturers to your local mom-and-pop shop. Ask any firearm related business how difficult it is to get bank accounts or credit card processing in many areas of the country. The gun shop MCC is simply another attack on the ability of consumers to buy firearms. 

Still think it doesn’t matter who you vote for? 

Bob

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