I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7450 

To 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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2024 

Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. BARR, and Mr. HUDSON) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To prohibit payment card networks and covered entities from 

requiring the use of or assigning merchant category 

codes that distinguish a firearms retailer from generalmerchandise retailer or sporting-goods retailer, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Privacy in 

5 Purchases Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISTINGUISHING FIREARMS SALES. 

2 (a) PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO MERCHANT CAT3 EGORY CODES.— 

4 (1) PAYMENT CARD NETWORKS.—A payment 

5 card network may not require a firearms retailer to 

6 use, nor require a covered entity to assign, a mer7 chant category code that distinguishes such firearms 

8 retailer from a general-merchandise retailer or a 

9 sporting-goods retailer. 

10 (2) COVERED ENTITIES.—A covered entity or 

11 its agent may not assign to a firearms retailer any 

12 merchant category code that distinguishes from a 

13 general-merchandise retailer or a sporting-goods re14 tailer. 

15 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

17 enforce this section and shall, not later than 90 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this section, es19 tablish a process for individuals, including firearms 

20 retailers, to submit complaints relating to alleged 

21 violations of this section. 

22 (2) INVESTIGATION.—The Attorney General 

23 shall investigate each complaint received through the 

24 processes established under paragraph (1). 

25 (3) WRITTEN NOTICE.—If the Attorney General 

26 determines after conducting an investigation that a 


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1 payment card network or covered entity has violated 

2 this section, the Attorney General shall send a writ3 ten notice of such violation to such payment card 

4 network or covered entity that requires the payment 

5 card network or covered entity to remedy the viola6 tion not later than 30 days after the date on which 

7 the payment card network or covered entity receives 

8 such notice. 

9 (4) INJUNCTION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a payment card net11 work or covered entity does not remedy a viola12 tion within 30 days of receiving a written notice 

13 under paragraph (3), the Attorney General may 

14 bring an action in Federal court to enjoin the 

15 violating behavior. 

16 (B) NO PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—This 

17 Act does not create a private right of action. 

18 (c) PREEMPTION.—Any law of a State or local gov19 ernment regulating merchant category codes for firearm 

20 retailers is hereby preempted. 

21 (d) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall, each year, 

22 submit a report to the Congress that— 

23 (1) identifies the number of investigations un24 dertaken by the Attorney General under this section; 


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•HR 7450 IH

1 (2) includes a summary of such cases and their 

2 disposition; and 

3 (3) provides any available data and analysis re4 garding the effectiveness of this Act. 

5 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

6 (1) AMMUNITION.—The term ‘‘ammunition’’ 

7 has the meaning given the term in section 

8 921(a)(17)(A) of title 18, United States Code. 

9 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en10 tity’’ means any entity that— 

11 (A) establishes a relationship with a mer12 chant for the purposes of processing credit, 

13 debit, or prepaid transactions; or 

14 (B) establishes a relationship with an enti15 ty that establishes a relationship with a mer16 chant for the purposes of processing credit, 

17 debit, or prepaid transactions. 

18 (3) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 921(a)(3), (5), 

20 (7), (16), (29), (30), of title 18, United States Code. 

21 (4) FIREARMS RETAILER.—The term ‘‘firearms 

22 retailer’’ means a person or entity engaged in the 

23 lawful business of selling or trading firearms or am24 munition to be used in firearms. 


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•HR 7450 IH

1 (5) MERCHANT CATEGORY CODE.—The term 

2 ‘‘merchant category code’’ means a multi-digit code, 

3 issued by the International Organization for Stand4 ardization, for the purposes of enabling the classi5 fication of merchants into specific categories based 

6 on the type of business, trade or services supplied. 

7 (6) PAYMENT CARD NETWORK.—The term 

8 ‘‘payment card network’’ means an entity that di9 rectly or through a licensed member, processor, or 

10 agent provides proprietary services, infrastructure, 

11 or software, or hardware that route information 

12 used to authorize, clear and settle credit card and 

13 debit card transactions. 

Æ 


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