EXCLUSIVE: Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles files legislation to prevent 'backdoor gun registry'

By: Adrian Mojica

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-5) has filed new legislation protecting the specific identification of firearm and ammunition merchants through the use of codes used in consumer purchases.

To be known as the Protecting the Second Amendment in Financial Services Act, the bill prohibits any entity which facilitates or processes a credit card transaction from using a Merchant Category Code (MCC) which would identify a transaction as being specifically for a firearm or ammunition seller.

MCC codes are four-digit codes which payment processors and banks can use to monitor and collect data on certain types of transactions. A code for firearm transactions was created in 2022, something Rep. Ogles says is a "backdoor gun registry." In an exclusive statement to FOX 17 News, Rep. Ogles says "Under the Biden Administration, the Second Amendment suffered several assaults--including an attempt by the International Standards Organization (ISO) to create a back door gun registry through a new merchant category code (MCC). This MCC was specifically designed to track gun and ammunition transactions. My bill would prohibit the MCC’s implementation and stop the radical Left in its tracks."

Although major credit card companies have put a temporary pause on the use of such codes in firearm and ammunition transactions, Rep. Ogles says there has been no formal request to withdraw the MCC, adding this legislation would make sure no such tracking is implemented.

Rep. Ogles added such use of an MCC could be used to "track and report lawful firearm transactions to law enforcement under the guise of 'suspicion'. In other words, this MCC is the Left’s attempt to create a backdoor gun registry to further curtail the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans."