MCC 5723 — Firearms Retailer
WAY BACK in March 2023, I wrote “I called The Latest Operation Choke Point — Paused” about the push of a new MCC (Merchant Category Code) for guns stores. Here’s an update. Without a legal requirement to do so, it is being pushed onto the industry, like it or not.
As of January 2025, new merchants MUST be assigned the MCC of 5723, Firearms Retailer. This is being imposed on the credit card processors by payment gateway Authorize.net, a wholly owned subsidiary of Visa. The only places exempted are in those states that have outlawed the use of a specific merchant category code for firearms and firearm related businesses.
The states that have mandated the use of this MCC are California, Colorado and New York.
The states that have outlawed the use of this MCC are Florida, Idaho, North Dakota, West Virginia, Texas, Montana, Mississippi, Utah, Iowa, Wyoming, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Alabama and Kentucky.
This means if you are in a state that has NOT outlawed it, but also NOT requiring it, you are getting it anyway.
Why is this important?
As I said in my original article, this has absolutely nothing to do with their stated purpose of being a law enforcement investigative tool. It was advertised as being all about ‘public safety’ by allowing credit card companies to flag suspicious purchases and report them to law enforcement, thereby (somehow) preventing mass shootings.
IF the intention was to be able to track purchases made at a firearm retailer/Federal Firearms License (FFL), the credit card industry and gun-control zealots already had a way to do this. A quick trip to the ATFE (Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives) website allows you to download the complete current list of every FFL in the country in .xlsx, .txt or .pdf format. Even someone with prehistoric programming skills like me could write a program to flag sales from any firearm retailer in real time in about 15 minutes.
Side note: How many industries do you know where the entire list of retailers is available to everyone with only a click required to download it?
The actual purpose is to allow the card issuing banks, or even Visa and the other credit card companies themselves, to be able to deny credit card purchases from firearm retailers, period. Sadly, this is already occurring. There are already many reports around the country of banks who have denied their customers purchases at firearm retailers. Their moral high ground is they don’t want their company being used to legally purchase firearms.
The new MCC would be much less of a burden for large retailers such as Bass Pro/Cabela’s, Walmart, etc. who already have multiple MCC’s for different areas of their stores. Therefore, denying purchases from the firearm retailer MCC would only stop purchase in the firearms area of the store. What this MCC can do is stop smaller firearm retailers from making any sales because they use a single credit card processor for all sales, firearms and non-firearm related.
Your local bank is the current battleground for your Second Amendment rights. Gun-control zealots have long pressured financial institutions into not working with firearms industry, from the largest manufacturers to your local mom-and-pop shop. Ask any firearm related business how difficult it is to get bank accounts or credit card processing in many areas of the country. The firearm retailer MCC is simply another attack on the ability of consumers to buy firearms.
Where do we go from here?
A new federal bill has been reintroduced this year, H.R. 7450: Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act. This would “prohibit payment card networks and covered entities from requiring the use of or assigning merchant category codes that distinguish a firearms retailer from general-merchandise retailer or sporting-goods retailer, and for other purposes.”
If you live in one of the states that has NOT yet outlawed the use of this MCC, it’s time for you to contact your elected representatives and ask/demand they put forth legislation to stop it. Yes, even if you live in a left wing dominated state like I do.
For everyone — it’s time to let your federal representatives and senators know how you feel about this, even if they are traditionally gun control inclined. As we’ve already seen in the 118th Congress, even with a Republican majority in the House and Senate, the RINO crowd is strong and needs to be reminded if they aren’t going to represent our interests, then they can be replaced by someone who will.
By the by, does it make sense now why they want to get rid of cash and go to digital currency?
Bob
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