Congress blocks payment networks from tracking firearms sales

What it does

This bill prohibits payment card networks (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) and payment processors from assigning or requiring firearms retailers to use a special merchant category code that identifies them as firearms sellers. The stated purpose is to protect the privacy of firearms purchases by preventing the creation of a distinct transaction category that could be tracked or monitored. Firearms retailers benefit by being treated like general merchandise retailers in payment processing; payment networks lose the ability to categorize firearms transactions separately.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a direct prohibition on a specific form of merchant categorization. It is framed as privacy protection but functions as a constraint on payment networks' ability to distinguish firearms transactions—a narrow, sector-specific rule that benefits firearms retailers and their customers at the cost of payment-system transparency and law enforcement visibility.

What the text implies

• Prevents law enforcement and financial regulators from using merchant category codes to detect patterns of illegal firearms trafficking, straw purchases, or money laundering tied to firearms sales.
• Eliminates a tool for detecting high-volume or suspicious firearms purchases that might indicate illegal weapons distribution networks.
• Preempts state and local laws that may have required or permitted firearms-specific coding for tax, licensing, or public-safety purposes, centralizing the rule federally.
• May complicate compliance for payment networks attempting to comply with both this federal prohibition and any future state/local regulations on transaction monitoring or reporting.
• Creates an asymmetry: firearms retailers are protected from distinctive coding, but other regulated industries (alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals) remain subject to category-specific tracking.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill protects privacy in firearms purchases—a legitimate interest for lawful gun owners and retailers. However, it also prevents payment networks from detecting patterns of suspicious or illegal firearms trafficking, potentially undermining fraud detection, money laundering prevention, and law enforcement's ability to identify illegal weapons sales. The trade-off between privacy and public safety/law enforcement capability is genuine and material.

Who stands to gain

• firearms retailers
• firearms manufacturers and distributors
• ammunition retailers

Named in the bill

payment card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), covered entities (payment processors, acquiring banks), firearms retailers, Attorney General (enforcement), International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Where it stands

132 cosponsors: 132 Republicans.

• Feb 11, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 11, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”
• Dec 16, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Dec 17, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 29 - 23”
• Jul 14, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 221 - 201 (Roll no. 240)”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

6 lobbying clients named this bill on 9 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $9,119,548 in lobbying spend. A filing names 66 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 82% of bills with at least one filing.

Riley Moore, the sponsor, reported $569,900 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Bankers Association — $5,210,000 on 2 filings
• National Shooting Sports Foundation — $1,990,000 on 1 filing
• National Rifle Association of America — $990,000 on 2 filings
• American Express Company — $470,000 on 1 filing
• National Association for Gun Rights — $429,548 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.