U.S House passes Second Amendment safeguard

A bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday will help safeguard Second Amendment rights.

The legislation, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act, prevents financial institutions from tracking consumer retail purchases of ammunition and firearms through the use of merchant category codes that would denote those specific items.

Credit card companies and banks could use a specific merchant category code to track legal purchases, and that could allow such information to be analyzed and shared in a way that would violate the privacy of the consumer. Security of any data collected and its potential misuse were also significant concerns.

Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor and said, “Law-abiding Kentuckians should not be targeted for exercising their constitutional rights. Creating a system that flags firearm purchases opens the door to data collection schemes, discrimination against responsible gun owners, and a weaponized federal government that could choke off access to financing for gun stores.”

The National Rifle Association of America Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director John Commerford added, “The implementation of Merchant Category Codes to surveil lawful purchases is nothing more than an ill-conceived attempt to create a de facto national firearms registry.”

Representative Riley Moore of West Virginia was the sponsor of the bill. Barr and North Carolina’s Richard Hudson were the original cosponsors.