II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4075 

To prohibit payment card networks and covered entities from requiring the 

use of or assigning merchant category codes that distinguish a firearms 

retailer from a general merchandise retailer or sporting goods retailer, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 8, 2024 

Mr. HAGERTY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

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 a general 

merchandise 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISTINGUISHING FIREARMS SALES. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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

2 has the meaning given the term in section 

3 921(a)(17)(A) of title 18, United States Code, as 

4 applied to a firearm, as defined in paragraph (3). 

5 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en6 tity’’ means any entity that establishes a relation7 ship with— 

8 (A) a merchant for the purposes of proc9 essing credit, debit, or prepaid transactions; or 

10 (B) another entity that establishes a rela11 tionship with a merchant for the purposes of 

12 processing credit, debit, or prepaid transactions. 

13 (3) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ means an 

14 item described in paragraph (3), (5), (7), (16), (29), 

15 or (30) of section 921(a) of title 18, United States 

16 Code. 

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

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

19 lawful business of selling or trading— 

20 (A) firearms; or 

21 (B) ammunition to be used in firearms. 

22 (5) MERCHANT CATEGORY CODE.—The term 

23 ‘‘merchant category code’’ means a multi-digit code 

24 that is issued by the International Organization for 

25 Standardization for the purposes of enabling the 


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1 classification of merchants into specific categories 

2 based on the type of business or trade of the mer3 chant or the services supplied by the merchant. 

4 (6) PAYMENT CARD NETWORK.—The term 

5 ‘‘payment card network’’ means an entity that, di6 rectly or through a licensed member, processor, or 

7 agent, provides a proprietary service, infrastructure, 

8 software, or hardware that routes information used 

9 to authorize, clear, and settle credit card and debit 

10 card transactions. 

11 (b) PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO MERCHANT CAT12 EGORY CODES.— 

13 (1) PAYMENT CARD NETWORKS.—A payment 

14 card network may not require a firearms retailer to 

15 use, nor require a covered entity to assign to a fire16 arms retailer, a merchant category code that distin17 guishes the firearms retailer from a general mer18 chandise retailer or a sporting goods retailer. 

19 (2) COVERED ENTITIES.—Neither a covered en20 tity, nor any agent of a covered entity, may assign 

21 to a firearms retailer any merchant category code 

22 that distinguishes the firearms retailer from a gen23 eral merchandise retailer or a sporting goods re24 tailer. 

25 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

2 shall— 

3 (A) enforce this section, including by con4 ducting investigations of potential violations of 

5 this section; and 

6 (B) not later than 90 days after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act, establish a process for 

8 a person, including a firearms retailer, to sub9 mit to the Attorney General a complaint relat10 ing to an alleged violation of this section. 

11 (2) INVESTIGATION.—The Attorney General 

12 shall investigate each complaint received through the 

13 processes established under paragraph (1)(B). 

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

15 determines after conducting an investigation (wheth16 er initiated by the Attorney General or through a 

17 complaint received through the process established 

18 under paragraph (1)(B)) that a payment card net19 work or a covered entity has violated this section, 

20 the Attorney General shall send to that payment 

21 card network or covered entity, as applicable, written 

22 notice of that violation that requires the payment 

23 card network or covered entity to remedy the viola24 tion not later than 30 days after the date on which 


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1 the payment card network or covered entity receives 

2 that notice. 

3 (4) INJUNCTION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a payment card net5 work or covered entity does not remedy a viola6 tion of this section within 30 days of receiving 

7 written notice under paragraph (3), the Attor8 ney General may bring an action in an appro9 priate district court of the United States to en10 join the violating behavior. 

11 (B) NO PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

12 Nothing in this section may be construed as es13 tablishing a private right of action. 

14 (d) PREEMPTION.—Any law of a State or local gov15 ernment regulating merchant category codes for firearm 

16 retailers is hereby preempted by this section. 

17 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the At19 torney General shall submit to Congress a report that— 

20 (1) for the year covered by the report, identifies 

21 the total number of investigations undertaken by the 

22 Attorney General under this section, whether initi23 ated by the Attorney General or through a complaint 

24 received through the process established under sub25 section (c)(1)(B); 


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1 (2) includes a summary of each investigation 

2 described in paragraph (1), including the disposition 

3 of each such investigation; and 

4 (3) provides any available data and analysis re5 garding the effectiveness of this Act. 

Æ 


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