Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Financial Privacy Gun Sales topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee backs Second Amendment privacy bill aimed at preventing financial tracking of gun purchases
Summary
A bill described as the 'Second Amendment Privacy Act' advanced from the General Law Subcommittee after bankers and the attorney general’s office discussed language about merchant category codes, interstate compliance and cure periods for alleged violations.
The General Law Subcommittee advanced a bill described during the hearing as the Second Amendment Privacy Act that would restrict payment-card networks and financial firms from creating databases or otherwise profiling firearm purchasers based on purchase data.
Supporters said the bill aims to protect gun owners’ financial privacy by preventing card networks from using merchant category codes to identify firearm-related transactions; banking representatives said the bill is not opposed but requested technical language changes to avoid unintended liability for banks.
Neil Rachley, general counsel for the South Carolina Bankers Association, told the subcommittee his organization does not oppose the bill but asked for clarifications and a longer cure period for alleged violations. “We are not in opposition,” Rachley said, but he warned that because California has taken a different approach—requiring certain merchant codes—banks that operate across states face difficult compliance choices and potential liability migration if the bill’s language is not precise.
Rachley urged insertion of the word “permit” into the clause that currently prohibits networks from requiring or incentivizing a merchant category code, saying that change would better protect banks if card networks adopt codes in other states. He also requested that the cure period for violations be extended from 30 days to 60 days to allow banks time to assess and correct inadvertent coding errors.
A representative from the attorney general’s office described the enforcement mechanism the bill includes: the attorney general would investigate reasonable allegations, offer a cure period, and seek injunctions and civil fines if violations continued. Committee member Representative Block asked whether the phrase “shall investigate reasonable allegations” was too vague; the attorney general’s representative said that similar language is common and provides flexibility to assess whether an allegation is inadvertent or requires enforcement.
After questions and brief discussion, the subcommittee recorded affirmative responses and reported the bill favorably to the full committee for further action.
