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The bill prohibits government entities from keeping a list, record or registry of privately-owned firearms. Records may be kept during a criminal investigation and prosecution on gun ownership (Aristide Economopoulos for New Jersey Monitor).<\/p>\n
Twenty states have enacted laws prohibiting the use of unique merchant category codes to distinguish firearm purchases, and Missouri could be the 21st.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Jill Carter, a Republican from Granby, presented legislation to a Senate committee Monday that would create the \u201cSecond Amendment Financial Privacy Act.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill prohibits government entities from keeping a list, record or registry of privately-owned firearms. Records may be kept during a criminal investigation and prosecution on gun ownership. It\u00a0also prohibits credit card networks from using a merchant category code to distinguish firearm sales from any other sale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bill draws a clear line,\u201d Carter said at the hearing. \u201cLawful gun ownership must never be treated as inherently suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kentucky, Tennessee and Iowa passed similar laws in 2024 banning the use of unique merchant category codes for firearms.<\/p>\n
Darren LaSorte from the National Shooting Sports Foundation spoke in favor of the bill and its ability to prevent citizens from being investigated for purchasing firearms and equipment at a gun store.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is stuff that if I talked about seven years ago, you\u2019d throw me in a padded room and call me a conspiracy theorist,\u201d LaSorte said. \u201cIt\u2019s happening now, and what this bill does is simply prohibits it from happening in the state of Missouri.\u201d<\/p>\n
If passed in Missouri, the attorney general could investigate anyone suspected of violating these laws and provide a 30-day notice. If changes are not made, the attorney general can file a lawsuit against the violator. Violators can receive a civil penalty of up to $1,000.<\/p>\n