Plain English Summary
This bill prohibits payment card networks (like Visa and Mastercard) from using special merchant codes that identify firearms purchases or merchants, and from maintaining records of North Carolina residents who own firearms. The bill allows the Attorney General to enforce violations with civil penalties up to $5,000, and permits affected merchants, customers, and firearm owners to sue for damages up to $10,000 per violation.
Arguments in Favor
Supporters argue this bill protects Second Amendment rights by preventing payment card companies from tracking firearm purchases, which they contend creates a chilling effect on lawful gun ownership. They maintain that firearm purchases are legal commerce and should not be subject to separate surveillance or discrimination by payment processors, similar to how other legal purchases are not specially coded or tracked.
Arguments Against
Opponents argue that payment card networks use merchant category codes for legitimate business purposes like fraud prevention, compliance with financial regulations, and data analysis. They contend the bill may conflict with federal banking regulations, could impose significant compliance costs on payment processors, and might interfere with anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer requirements that financial institutions are legally required to maintain.
AI-generated analysis based on bill text. Always verify with official sources at ncleg.gov. This is not legal or political advice.
Sponsors
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 1
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 19
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 65
Primary Sponsor
Representative · District 25
Cosponsors (31)
Representative · District 52
Representative · District 53
Representative · District 70
Representative · District 84
Representative · District 43
Representative · District 6
Representative · District 5
Representative · District 67
Representative · District 93
Representative · District 62
Representative · District 86
Representative · District 76
Representative · District 94
Representative · District 111
Representative · District 109
Representative · District 59
Representative · District 68
Representative · District 17
Representative · District 79
Representative · District 13
Representative · District 110
Representative · District 85
Representative · District 74
Representative · District 9
Representative · District 78
Representative · District 113
Representative · District 82
Representative · District 105
Representative · District 117
Representative · District 83
Representative · District 73
Vote Breakdown (2 roll calls)
Final Vote
On: Second Reading
Party Breakdown