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Rep. Hill seeks to ban financial tracking of firearms sales by merchant codes; bill would impose $10,000 penalty per violation
Summary
Rep. Ted Hill introduced RS 32,273 to prohibit financial institutions from using merchant codes or other payment-processing tools to track firearm and ammunition purchases; the draft would allow $10,000 injunctions per violation and was introduced for hearing.
Rep. Ted Hill, R-District 14, introduced RS 32,273 on Wednesday to extend prohibitions on tracking firearms purchases beyond major credit-card companies to include financial institutions more broadly.
Hill told the House State Affairs Committee the intent of the measure is to stop what he described as a backdoor surveillance effort: "The intent of tracking these codes was unprecedented surveillance of second amendment activity," he said, arguing that merchant codes could be used to monitor lawful gun purchasers. The draft he proposed would prohibit financial institutions from using merchant codes or similar identifiers to track firearms and ammunition sales and would allow a court injunction of $10,000 for each violation.
Hill said the bill builds on earlier legislation that targeted credit-card companies and is intended to close a perceived loophole affecting debit cards and other payment processors. Representative Barbieri asked whether the text isolates credit cards only; Hill said the draft language covers debit-card processing as well because debit is part of the broader financial-institution payment system.
The committee voted to introduce RS 32,273 for a formal hearing. The motion to introduce was offered by Representative Barbieri and carried on a voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
