Oklahoma AG John O'Connor warns credit card companies against tracking gun purchases
Attorney General John O'Connor joined 23 other state attorneys general this week in cautioning several major credit card companies against tracking firearm purchases.
O'Connor and other Republican attorneys general warn that bird-dogging such purchases could violate individual privacy rights.
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The chief law enforcement officers signed onto a letter Tuesday that comes after Visa, Mastercard and American Express signaled they would categorize sales at gun shops differently than other purchases.
Visa, the world's largest payment processor, recently said it will adopt a new merchant code for sales at gun stores after the International Organization for Standardization announced the change in classification. Such sales were previously categorized as "general merchandise."
“This new code will not protect public safety, but instead will lead to potential consumer privacy intrusions," O'Connor said in a news release. "I am fighting to keep our personal information private and to defend Americans’ right to bear arms.”
Gun control advocates had been pushing for the change they say could make it easier to flag suspicious purchases.
In a blog post last week, Visa said there seems to be some confusion around the change from the International Organization for Standardization that adds a new code to the hundreds of existing business codes.
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"Many misunderstand what that means and are, in turn, advocating the use of MCCs to 'track' gun sales as a potential tool in combatting gun violence," the company wrote. "That’s not what merchant codes are designed for, nor should they be."
But the GOP attorneys general said the change could result in legal gun sellers and buyers being unfairly singled out. The new categorization is also flawed because they don't track the actual items purchased, they wrote.
The categorization wouldn't be able to differentiate between the purchase of a firearm versus a safe at a gun store, according to the letter. The categorization also wouldn't flag firearm purchases made at department stores, they wrote.
The attorneys general warned against creating a "list of gun buyers." Second Amendment critics could misuse that information if it were publicly released, they wrote.
They also warned credit card companies and banks against selectively restricting the use of their payment systems or withholding the use of their financial services based on a customer's purchases. There is a question of whether some banks, which issue credit cards, will follow the lead of the major credit card companies.
"Purposefully tracking this information can only result in its misuse, either unintentional or deliberate," the attorneys general wrote.
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Visa said in a blog its policies require financial institutions to process all legal transactions.
"We do not believe private companies should serve as moral arbiters," Visa wrote. "Asking private companies to decide what legal products or services can or cannot be bought and from what store sets a dangerous precedent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma attorney general warns against tracking gun purchases
