Letter to Alfred F. Kelly Jr., Chief Executive Officer Of VIsa Inc. - Merchant Category Code Decision

Letter

Mr. Kelly,

I strongly oppose your recent decision to implement a new merchant category code (MCC) for firearms retailers. This blatant overreach will lead to further distrust of the financial system and the demonization of over 72 million law-abiding gun owners. I urge you to reverse course and end this disastrous attempt to politicize our financial system.

Creating a separate category for the legal sale of firearms will ultimately lead to discrimination against law-abiding Americans for simply exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms. I have no doubt that a standalone MCC for gun and ammunition retailers will be used to create a registry of gun owners that will be used solely for political purposes.

Unfortunately, the federal government has proven it will use financial regulators to unlawfully discriminate against the firearm industry. During the Obama Administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) pressured financial institutions to stop lending and providing banking services to firearm-related businesses by labeling those businesses "high risk" despite having no evidence or justification for doing so. By segregating the lawful sale of firearms you are opening the door for potential abuse by partisan regulators and subjecting everyday Americans to unnecessary surveillance capitalism.

There are serious privacy concerns with payment processors monitoring who is allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights and how frequently they choose to do so. Categorizing all firearm purchases together could ultimately lead to legal gun purchases being denied and infringing on the constitutional rights of all Americans. While it may be politically convenient for you to target the firearm industry at this time, this will undoubtedly lead to an irreversible politicization of our financial system.

In fact, in 2018, Visa rejected similar proposals and admitted that monitoring and arbitrating the private purchases of your customers "sets a dangerous precedent." Additionally, in 2018, Visa said, "We do not believe Visa should be in the position of setting restrictions on the sale of lawful goods and services." It is apparent that your decision to track and monitor Second Amendment enthusiasts is not based on any financial risk but on appeasing misguided political pressure from gun control activists.

I request your response to the following questions as I work on legislative solutions to protect my constituents' constitutional rights.

* What safeguards are in place to ensure you will not deny law-abiding Americans their constitutional right to purchase and keep firearms?
* Under what circumstances will financial information related to the purchase or sale of firearms and ammunition be shared with federal agencies and law enforcement organizations?
* Please retain any relevant documents and communications related to the creation and implementation of a merchant category code (MCC) for firearms retailers needed for future oversight or legislative requests from the United States Congress, specifically:

o Any relevant documents and communications with the federal agencies, including but not limited to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB),
o Any relevant documents and communications with non-governmental organizations, including but not limited to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), GunsDownAmerica, Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and the International Organization for Standardization.

Again, I urge you to abandon this unnecessary surveillance and criminalization of the firearms industry. I would caution you that moving forward with the proposal will be interpreted as a direct attack on the constitutional rights and privacy of law-abiding Americans. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,
Lance Gooden
Member of Congress

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