On Tuesday, March 12th, the Senate Banking Committee passed House Bill 1018 by voice vote.
The bill now advances to the Senate for consideration. Please contact your Senator and urge them to SUPPORT HB 1018 by using the Take Action button now.
HB 1018 prohibits the use of firearm/ammunition specific merchant category codes by payment processors. This is an important protection for gun owners, protecting private purchasing information from abuse by third parties.
Rep. Jason Ridley (R-HD 6), the sponsor of the bill, led the charge in the House, and Sen. Matt Brass (R-SD 28) will carry the bill on the Senate Floor. The NRA would like to thank Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for his efforts to keep HB 1018 moving swiftly to the floor.
Collecting firearm retailer financial transaction data amounts to surveillance and registration of law-abiding gun owners. Those promoting this scheme are in favor of firearm and gun owner registrations. Therefore, it should be assumed that the goal of this program is to share all collected firearm retailer MCC data with government authorities and potentially private third parties that may include gun control organizations and anti-gun researchers.
Please stay tuned to the NRA-ILA website and your inbox for updates as this critical legislation progresses.