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Appropriations committee advances bill to ban use of merchant-category codes to track firearm purchases
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Summary
HB97 would prohibit state or private actors from creating lists or registries of firearm purchases using merchant-category codes; the bill defines covered terms and creates civil and criminal penalties. Banks warned of federal conflicts; amendment clarified wording.
The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance HB97, a measure that would amend Wyoming's financial-privacy statutes to bar the use of merchant-category codes (MCCs) or similar identifiers to create databases or lists of firearm purchases or owners.
Sponsor and text Representative Gerald Harrelson told the committee the bill creates a new criminal prohibition and civil remedies to prevent government or private-sector tracking of firearms purchases by MCC or a "firearms tracking code." The core statutory text discussed by the sponsor says no state agency, local government, special district, or private person "shall knowingly or willfully keep or cause to be kept any list recording or registry of privately owned firearms or any list recording or registry of the owners of those firearms created or maintained through the use of a firearm code or any other merchant category code." The bill also sets definitions for "firearm," "ammunition," "firearm accessories or components," "merchant," and "payment card."
Support and concerns Advocates for the bill, including the NRA and Gun Owners of America, argued similar laws already exist in about 20 states and protect citizens from international or federal tracking initiatives. Mark Jones said those laws "put protections in place to protect people here in Wyoming from efforts to disclose their information." Brian Gosch said Wyoming would join states including Texas and Florida.
Banking industry representatives urged care with a provision that had been removed from the draft and later debated: Scott Meyer of the Wyoming Bankers Association warned that deleting certain language could put Wyoming-chartered banks in conflict with federal reporting requirements and risk their charters if the bill does not preserve compliance with federal law. Committee and sponsor discussed a narrow carve-out for records maintained "in the ordinary course of business of any federal firearms licensee as required by 18 U.S.C. 922."
Amendment The committee adopted a clarifying amendment that replaced ambiguous wording about a "code" with language describing a code "which tracks firearms, accessories, components, ammunition, or firearms," and enumerated the covered items to remove ambiguity about whether the prohibition targeted classes of products or individualized tracking codes.
Vote and next steps After the amendment the committee voted HB97 do pass as amended (roll-call: 6 ayes, 1 no). The bill was advanced to the next stage; the sponsor and stakeholders signaled ongoing conversations about drafting technical fixes to ensure state-chartered financial institutions are not put in federal compliance jeopardy.
What to watch The banking witnesses asked for precise statutory language to avoid conflicts with 18 U.S.C. 922 reporting obligations and to protect state-chartered institutions from unintended federal-law conflicts. The committee asked the sponsor to continue discussions with industry counsel for technical clean-up before floor debate.
