California-Style Gun Registries Are Coming to Your State

Democrats are restricting your Second Amendment gun rights bit-by-bit. If Biden wins in 2024, there’s nothing standing in their way

Big Government California strikes again, this time strong arming banks into a malicious crusade against gun owners.

The trick is done with “merchant codes,” four-digit labels that designate what type of purchase consumers make. Firearms were previously part of the “sporting goods” category, but California is now requiring banks to use a new code that will group firearm and ammunition purchases together.

Congress already clarified that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) cannot create a gun database. California is strategically using a loophole that moves around Congress and the ATF to record lawful Second Amendment activity in the background.

It’s likely the ATF will be able to access these new bank-sponsored databases, as we have already seen big banks partner with three letter agencies to target Second Amendment rights.

Last March, House Republicans began investigating Bank of America for “voluntarily” turning over all customers to the FBI who had ever purchased a firearm and also made transactions on and around the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“According to veteran FBI employees, [Bank of America] provided, without any legal process, private financial information of Americans to the most powerful law enforcement entity in the country,” Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Thomas Massie (KY) wrote.

There’s a discernible pattern here. The Left prototypes its worst ideas in California to work out the kinks, then exports them to other blue states—and eventually the nation as a whole. With President Joe Biden, the most anti-Second Amendment president in U.S. history, occupying the Oval Office, it’s only a matter of time before federal officials get in on the action.

Living in a red state isn’t enough to protect your gun rights.

(RELATED: ATF Threatens to Label Millions of Americans “Gun Dealers” in Expansive New Regulation)

Exploiting Loopholes

Merchant codes, created and overseen by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), are four-digit codes that classify specific goods based on the service they provide. In 2022, the ISO decided to approve a new code for firearm retailers as firearms were previously part of the “sporting goods” code.

The new code will not be item-specific in California, but it will show the dollar amount spent at a gun store. Second Amendment advocates view the move as an invasion of privacy.

“If governments or credit card companies start to require certain purchase patterns at gun stores be reported to police, that could put a lot of innocent people under suspicion depending on how broad the criteria are,” firearm expert Stephen Gutowski told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

In March 2023, Republican state lawmakers introduced multiple forms of legislation that would block the new ISO merchant code from taking effect. Numerous lenders, including MasterCard and Discover, then decided to pause efforts to implement the new form of firearm tracking.

Montana’s Republican Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, also led a 24-state coalition in September 2023 that called on the CEOs of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express to abandon the initiative, as it could violate consumer protection and antitrust laws.

“It’s extremely disappointing to see credit card companies cave to pressure from international bodies and adopt this measure that will do nothing to improve public safety,” Knudsen said.

“Gun owners do have privacy rights and if they want to purchase ammunition or if they want to buy a firearm, they shouldn’t be having to look over their shoulder if a credit card company is keeping tabs on them,” Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) spokesperson Dave Workman said. “The concern out there, and when you’re talking about California, it’s a justifiable one, this is becoming some sort of a backdoor gun registry. And naturally, gun owners are concerned about that.”

Part of a Larger Project

One month before the ISO approved the new code, “progressive” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander petitioned Mastercard and American Express to add a new code for firearm purchases. Lander is described by Politico as “one of the most left-leaning politicians” in the city.

Lander’s hostility to the Second Amendment is matched only by his support for other far-left ideas. He’s attacked New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) for being too tough on the city’s illegal immigration crisis after Adams required illegal immigrant families to reapply for shelter after 60 days. New York has crumbled under a massive influx of illegal immigrants which accounts for a third of the city’s budget gap.

“The cruelty is the point,” Lander wrote on X (formerly Twitter) criticizing Adams’ policy.

Lander also opted to use the $240 billion pension fund in New York City to push for a radical climate “decarbonization” of the city’s economy—a move that puts taxpayers on the line for an inevitably massive loss. Lander wants to make the city retirement fund’s anti-fossil fuels by 2040.

(RELATED: Biden’s Aim is Clear—Abolish the Second Amendment. Only Voters Can Stop Him in 2024)

Republicans Need to Block Firearm Merchant Codes

While Republican lawmakers were working to block the initiative, many states could see the writing on the wall and began to implement laws that blocked banks from ever tracking firearm purchases. So far, seven states, including West Virginia, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota, Florida, Montana, and Texas, have blocked the initiative.

Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, Wyoming, Indiana, South Carolina, Utah, and Tennessee need to take legislative action to block banks from tracking firearm purchases while they continue to be red state trifectas. If they do not act now, they may bypass their window.

Kentucky and North Carolina currently have Democratic governors, but their legislative bodies are Republican. The legislature needs to send a bill blocking these backdoor methods to the governor’s desk. If he vetoes, we will know where he stands on the Second Amendment.

Blue states will welcome these new ISO codes with open arms. Republicans need to do the opposite and advocate against Second Amendment infringement at any cost—or risk the Left California-izing their states for good.

Gun Control Petri Dish

California gun control laws are considered the pinnacle of “gun violence” prevention on the Left. Everytown for Gun Safety, a “progressive” anti-Second Amendment group that advocates for staunch gun control measures, ranks California as the state with the best “gun violence” prevention measures. Translation: the “state with the most restrictive gun policies in the nation.”

California has a whole host of gun control laws, 47 to be exact, that unduly burden residents who wish to practice their second amendment rights. The state bans “assault weapons,” – aka, any semiautomatic centerfire rifles with the capacity for a detachable magazine and a pistol grip. They also limit magazine capacity to 10 rounds.

California also wisely (sarcasm) implemented microstamping for pistols. When a shot is fired, the firing pin leaves a specific mark on the back of the casing to identify the shooter. The only problem, “it is not ready for use as a crime solving tool” and it’s “unreliable, easily defeated and simply impossible to implement,” the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) argues.

The state also has red flag laws that allow virtually anyone to petition a civil court to remove your Second Amendment rights without cause. If you are looking to concealed carry anywhere in the state, you better do your homework, as almost every public space and a few private spaces are completely off limits.

If other states model California, the Second Amendment will no longer exist.

Overall, California is a “progressive” cesspool that is losing residents and businesses left and right due to policies that promote disorder and penalize law-abiding Americans and gun owners. That’s on top of an ever-growing budget deficit (great work, Gavin Newsom).

California is a petri dish for growing leftist doctrine and we continually see the state lead the charge on “progressive,” often unconstitutional, initiatives. As banks begin to implement the codes, purchase will be flagged, gun owners will be targeted, and bans will likely be implemented.

Afterall, firearm merchant codes are a backdoor tracking system and a step towards further firearm regulation.

It’s become evident that this new system is ripe for exploitation. And it’s no shocker that big banks and the feds are already in cahoots. So, don’t be surprised if this initiative starts cropping up in other states soon.

(READ MORE: Why is the Media Covering for An Illegal Alien Murderer?)