House Republicans Advance Bill to Stop Backdoor Firearm Registries

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and Rep. Moore released the following statements:

"The Left could not pass a national gun registry through Congress, so now they want banks and credit card companies to do the dirty work for them," said Chairwoman McClain. "That is how Democrats target constitutional rights: quietly and without due process. Today, Republicans stood together and said 'NO.' We will not allow the Crazy Left to target your constitutional rights. We will, instead, stand firmly on the side of common sense and your constitutional rights."

"The Second Amendment is not a second-class right. Americans should never have their lawful firearm purchases tracked by financial institutions or payment processors," Rep. Moore said. "The creation of a separate merchant category code for gun stores at the behest of the Democrat-affiliated Amalgamated Bank opens the door to creating an unconstitutional backdoor gun registry and discrimination against law-abiding gun owners. My bill stops this dangerous overreach, protects consumers' financial privacy, and ensures that a backdoor federal gun registry can never be created through credit card transaction data. I'm proud the House has acted to defend both the Second Amendment and Americans' right to privacy."

The Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act prohibits payment card networks and covered entities from requiring or assigning merchant category codes that identify firearm retailers. The bill also gives the Attorney General enforcement authority, establishes a complaint process for alleged violations, and preempts state and local firearm-specific merchant code requirements while preserving fraud-prevention and transaction-security protections.