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The quote of the day is presented by Guns.com.

Virginia politicians are feeling their anti-gun oats. After using Bloombucks to flip the state legislature from red to blue, they’ve wasted no time in introducing gun control bills in Richmond on Monday. And in the US House, a Virginia Congresswoman has filed legislation that would require credit card companies to keep an eye on what you’re buying at the gun store.

While credit card companies have been reluctant about being drawn into the corporate gun control business, if the bill passes, it would be a powerful incentive for gun buyers to pay cash rather than using their Visa, MasterCard or Discover cards.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s (D–Va.) “Gun Violence Prevention Through Financial Intelligence Act” would require the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to “request information from financial institutions for the purpose of developing an advisory about the identification and reporting of suspicious activity.” The bill’s aim is to identify a consistent purchasing pattern among people who buy firearms and firearm accessories in order to conduct “lone wolf acts of terror” and expose how the firearms market in the United States is exploited by would-be mass shooters.

“Banks, credit card companies, and retailers have unique insight into the behavior and purchasing patterns that can help identify and prevent mass shootings,” Wexton explained in a statement. “The red flags are there—someone just needs to be paying attention.”

– Noah Shepardson in New Gun Control Bill Encourages Financial Institutions to Report ‘Suspicious’ Firearm Transactions

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

120 COMMENTS

  1. Sounding more every day day like North Korea or even something uncle Adolf would’ve been proud of. Pull your heads outta your butts, people!

    • Name one straight-shoot’n law-abiding gun owner that still uses discover card? Just one.

      Can’t do it can ya?

      • Ate there Security Cameras within that Next State Gun Shop? If so, it’s also probable that it also a Facial Recognition Software in it’s system. Arizona State Public Schools introduced Facial Recognition Software as early a 2003, to keep track of Students whereabouts…

      • How exactly is this gonna work? My local sporting goods store sells clothes, boots and camping gear in addition to guns and ammo. My credit card bill only shows that I spent X amount of dollars at the store, they have no way of knowing what I purchased.

        • Boots and Clothing don’t usually come with a corresponding serial number! And no two Ammunition is made exactly the same way and come with a lot number indicating on were the ammunition was originally order from, who it was delivered too, and who it was sold too…

        • “My credit card bill only shows that I spent X amount of dollars at the store,…”

          That’s what you see. The card company sees details of the transaction (sorta like your receipt). Doesn’t take much to decode UPC or item numbers/descriptions. Had a problem with a line on my CC bill. Asked the issuer if it was possible to determine what was actually purchased. Didn’t take much at all. Now, that was years and years ago. It is possible that to make e-commerce faster and more efficient, receipt-level details no longer appear to the card issuer.

        • If your receipt lists it, then the info is there.

          A very large number of vendors use automated inventory management which keeps track of items sold, how many left in stock, and how many need to be ordered to maintain the inventory level.

          All the vendor needs to do is tag specific items, i.e. guns, ammo, accessories, purchased via credit card, and that generates an automated report to VA direct from the vendor system. (It’s not quite this simple, but close.)

      • Indeed! Cash comes in a beautiful green color, transfers easy, can be used by anyone and is accepted in stores all over the U S A.

        • The next obvious step, then, is for the gubmint to monitor when you make large withdrawals from your ATM. Of course, if you can be presumed guilty of a future crime for a red flag law, why not assume large cash withdrawals are for gun purchases? It’s worth a visit from the local SWAT team, you know, just to get some facts and make sure.

        • UpInArms, they already do. Any withdrawal over $10,000 is automatically reported to the government. Some speculate that withdrawals over $5,000 are often reported.

    • And you thought East Germany and the Stasi were a surveillance state?

      The crime is life and so is the sentence.

    • YES !! Wake up people ! They have EVERY intention of taking ALL our guns, don’t listen to their bull ! If they disarm us then they control us !

  2. “YOU don’t trust us with our GUNS!”
    “WE don’t trust you with our FUNDS!”
    (Resist taxation BAMA*)
    *By Any Means Available.

  3. It’s all a distraction to keep you from noticing the SWAT team forming in your front yard, prepping to kick-in your doors and confiscate your guns.

  4. You mean they are NOT doing that already.. every time I use a card from Bank of America for a gun related purchase they send me a suspicious use letter and replace my card with a new one… They say the merchant has been compromised and the card may be at risk.. I have had three new debit cards and four new credit cards from them this year and it does not matter which on line or local dealer I use….. I called the bank to find out which merchant was the problem but could not get an answer, all I was told was the same thing the letter said and that no further information was available at that time… I think it’s a subtle attempt at harassment but I don’t save cards on line and never use the same card two times in a row at any one dealer so it is really their dime, all I have to do is call in to verify the new card. and take a couple of minutes to change the number on the bill pay account at the banks web site…..

    • Sorry, that’s a little hard to believe. I’ve used credit card to buy gun stuff and never a peep from the credit card company. Maybe it’s your state. Maybe it’s worse than mine.

      • It is not Fl. and I personally don’t care what you find hard to believe, I can only relate personal experience and have no idea what your own situation is or is not but I do not appreciate a complete stranger implying that I am being anything less than honest about mine…

        • She’s not the only one who found it hard to believe. My last gun purchase was via BoA chip-card plastic, and they didn’t say a peep to me about the purchase…

        • Only one I could identify having issues with after a purchase was PSA and that was back around 2014. After 2 compromised cards I stopped buying from them. It might have been coincidence but within a few days of buying a very small purchase would happen then a large .Got a new card and was tempted again and that time the only purchase made was PSA and shortly after the card was again compromised.
          They probably are fine now but I’m not taking the chance.

      • Victoria,

        Unless I misunderstood the article, the topic is *gun* purchases, not accessories. I’ve paid cash for every face-to-face purchase of anything (gun, ammo, accessories), and only use CC for online sellers that don’t accept PayPal, which is tied to a special checking account separate from my main checking account.

        MADD,

        I ditched BOA many years ago after they were surprisingly rude to me. Never looked back.

        • I only stay with them because of their less than friendly attitude toward the firearms industry, use their credit to make major gun and ammo purchases then pay it off before the interest charges are applied, they make a couple of points from the dealer I keep a checking account/debit card exclusively for on line purchases, keeps my other bank account with USAA clean for all my primary banking…

    • You need to lose BoA ASAP. When we moved to Nebraska 45 years ago, we opened an account at the nearest bank which treated us well. After a few years, it was bought by a larger bank which was later bought by a still larger bank. Eventually, it was acquired by Wells Fargo. After Wells Fargo took advantage of a friend with money problems, we switched to the credit union associated with my wife’s job. They served us well until we moved to Arizona. There, we opened an account with a local credit union and never considered a bank.

      It would be worth your getting another credit card from a new source. For reasons that seem silly to me, an additional card will improve your credit rating even though you don’t spend/charge any more than you would with just one card. A knowledgeable friend recommends Capital One. They offer both VISA and Master cards. MasterCard, unlike VISA, isn’t into virtue signalling with your transactions. Keep the BoA card but don’t charge more than a few dollars on it each month. That way, they have the expense of maintaining your account but make negligible money off you.

      • I have several more than one credit card and my credit rating is good enough to get me anything that I want if I wanted to go into major debt again.. I do only use the BofA cards for limited purchases for previously stated reasons.. Not a fan of Capital One (personal reasons) and but have cards associated with my other bank account and a few store and gas cards as well…. I’ve banked with BofA since 1967 and have always been treated well, don’t know why they had to fuck up and get involved in the political bullshit but it put a major damper on my relationship with them…

    • 2019 and you’re STILL supporting the leftist SOBs at BOA?? Find a real bank if you think that you need a CC.

      • I pretty much do what the fuck I want with my money and my time and I live my life pretty much how I want as well.. My advice to you would be not to worry yourself so much about what I do and spend that extra time taking care of yourself, cause you apparently either can’t read, do not understand what you read or are just obsessed with interjecting yourself into other peoples business..

          • Actually I understood it quite clearly, but apparently mine was a bit more elusive to him and I guess you too.. How I run my business is just that MY business and whom I choose to carry out my financial affairs with is also MY business.. As far as I can tell this country still basically resembles the United States that I fought for and if and when the Communists are finally successful in turning it over to their side you busy bodies who have such a difficult time with those that actually have a life will finally be vindicated until you are imprisoned and shot or hung… How does any of this concern you anyway, worry about yourself, I’m a big boy and can take of myself….. NEXT???

    • I have had mine replaced 3 times do to suspicious activity and all 3 times they have not been able to tell me what vendor caused my suspicious activity.. Please not I have a very decent credit limit and pay my card off every month as I hate donating interest to make someone rich. They get enough from vendors that accept the card . They don;t need my money .

  5. Come on all you old school anti-war, anti-police state, anti-Bush, ACLU, Code Pink liberals. Where you been the past 12 years? Oh, licking boots and touting fascism as the solution to all your made up problems.

    • Seriously. Maybe we should start mining people’s library records for… oh wait, I kind of remember when the left went nuts over that non-provision of the Patriot Act.

    • Stole my words entirely. I actually miss the left that would protest the government instead of insisting it should run our lives. Must not be politically convenient any more.

      • Fewer job/life skills to thrive without government support all around but especially with the college educated underwater basket weavers.

      • The marxist babyboomers and their spawn figured out where the phoney $ were “printed”. Socialism makes you slow but not totally ignorant.

  6. Sounds like they want to go after collectors not mass shooters. With one single exception all the mass shooters have all use 1-3 weapons and a few boxes of ammo. Nothing that would stand out there. They’re clearly not fishing for mass shooters.

    • That was my read also. Likely it would also flag those who buy ammo in bulk, reloading supplies, etc.

      Time to start looking more seriously at Bitcoin (and how to do it without an account at a mainline financial institution), I guess.

        • Exactly. All of my guns and ammo have been bought with cash primarily because the wife does not need to know. If it’s for online purchases, I use gift cards that I buy.

        • “If you want any kind of confidentiality, cash is king.”

          Until it becomes (as it inevitably will) obsoleted/banned/discontinued.

        • {Cash, dinero, greenbacks, etc.}

          “Until it becomes (as it inevitably will) obsoleted/banned/discontinued.”

          Over my (probable) dead body. I don’t see it happening here, and there are even places where laws were passed to *force* places to take cash.

          Americans want the privacy cash offers for their purchases of ‘goods and services’.

          (Translation – Hookers, hit men, and blow…) 😉

        • Oh – I’ll worry about cash being replaced or banned when one statement goes missing from money –

          “THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE”…

        • Cash isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. First, you could always use a foreign currency to conduct private transactions. Second, the USD is currently the world’s primary reserve currency. Eliminating physical cash would jeopardize that and threaten to crash the US economy. And third, even if every country on Earth eliminated cash, substitutes can always be found like gold, silver, Bitcoin, cocaine, sex, etc. It’s a pipe dream of leftists to be able to search your name and see everything you’ve ever bought under the guise of cutting off funding to drug cartels or ensuring nobody can cheat on their taxes, but just like gun control can’t keep guns out of the hands of criminals, a cashless society is only good for abusing law abiding citizens.

        • “Eliminating physical cash would jeopardize that and threaten to crash the US economy.”

          The South American drug lords might not like it either…

        • To add to what the previous poster said, hard code your DNS addresses and don’t use 8.8.8.8 since that is Google. A good choice is OpenDNS Primary: 208.67.222.222 Secondary: 208.67.220.220 another is Cloudflare Primary, secondary DNS servers: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 there are others out there.

          You can even put these into your home WIFI router and cover every item in your home. When you do this you take away one of the ways your ISP uses to spy on you. DuckDuckGo is a great search engine and they also make a privacy browser, you aren’t still using Chrome are you? At least go over to Firefox.

        • Leslie – I’ve been an extra for 30 years. Explain in layman’s terms how I can surf the web or make an online purchase on HInternet.

          Please.

  7. My local gun shop gives a small discount if I pay with cash. It’s a little better than any card points or miles I forgo. My bank hasn’t been weird about gun shop purchases – yet – but when it does get that way I’ll be even happier that it loses out on the credit card fees collected from merchants.

  8. The real goal is to pressure credit card companies into declining purchases they don’t want you to make. One more measure of control over people’s lives.

    • “The real goal is to pressure credit card companies…”

      Actually, the real goal using an anaconda plan to strangle the exercise of the Second Amendment-protected right to own firearms. It is a 360 attack.

    • It’s already happening. From my personal experience I have encountered numerous instances where purchases made with certain on line vendors, or clearing houses have been rejected. Watch making repeated purchases from the same vendor, or vendors with the same card. Notorious are companies with the words like “Gun”, “Shooting”, “Sportsman”, or “Ammo” in their names.
      I suggest rotating card purchases with several different credit cards, or ask the vendor to send you an invoice directly instead of using services like PayPal.com, or GunBroker.com . You might also avoid having to pay state sales taxes with smaller scale sellers that don’t add these charges directly. Keep a low profile and also keep your mouth shut about these topics on social media sites.

  9. So are the voters of VA. recalling all those involved in this (Authoritarian control freak) Bill for a “Police-State!?” Eventually these people are going to start jailing people for “political commentary, etc….!”

  10. Funny the credit card companies don’t have a problem with all those 900 numbers that are used with their cards. Are they checking to see if minors are using adults’ card numbers?

  11. Obviously, it’s an inconvenience using cash to make firearm-related purchases but once you read about the historical practices governments take to disarm their “politically undesirable” citizens, it’s a no-brainer.

  13. Wexton is a US Representative for the 10th District of VA (pretty much Northern Virginia from Alexandria to the West Virginia line). This proposed bill would affect the entire US, not just Virginia. She may be emboldened by the slim Democratic margin in VA, but those that were recently elected in VA haven’t even been sworn in yet…

    This has as much chance as any other US congressional bill, and probably less given the impeachment hearings…

    • That cash advance has a non-trivial fee.

      Remember, gun-grabbers love to raise the cost of acquiring and keeping firearms any way that they can.

  17. I’ve never used credit or debit to buy anything gun related. It’s bad enough living in ILLinois with the SP spying on me. And EVERYONE appreciate’s cash. At least we do in our business!

  18. Credit Card Companies are already doing that, and have for many, many years. Even a Postal Money Order, Western Union Money Order, 7-Eleven Money Order or whatever’s have Tracking Numbers to see were the Money was sent and who received and cashed them…

    • I concur.

      I believe fedzilla began acquiring this sort of data soon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack under the guise of thwarting future terrorist attacks.

      How much of it is “official” via the Patriot Act and how much is via unofficial channels I don’t know.

  19. The place I shop charges 3% for plastic. Cash has always been king.
    Also, their system is set up so that card companies only see the total transaction total and not the item(s) purchased.

    • Duke,

      … card companies only see the … transaction total and not the item(s) purchased.

      If I only have your transaction total, I have a decent idea of what you purchased.

      If I have your transaction total and your employment/income information, I am fairly certain of what you purchased.

      If I have your transaction total, your employment/income information, and your Internet activity, I am virtually certain what you purchased.

      Unless you purchase everything in cash in discrete face-to-face private transactions and NEVER use the Internet to research or comment about your firearms, calibers, ammunition, firearm accessories/parts, and prices, fedzilla can determine to a pretty high degree of confidence which firearm platforms and calibers you have.

  20. These Big Cities need to be banned from voting or let them set up their own UK Parliament or just build a wall around them & starve them out of existence.

    The Big Cesspool of Northern VA around DC is just another Extension of dirty DC Politics and its getting bigger and is full of Elites with Corrupt Government Companies & People!

    Our Country is failing! We need a Electoral College based upon land mass vs population.

    Just Think of Texas & California! The wide open spaces of those States are Opposites of the Big Cities for the most part.

    The Electoral College was a great concept but, the founders did not envision these cities & burbs with 10 million+ retarded people voting!

  23. Ive been saying that about that on TTAG for ?, what now 4 years,. The system tracks all credit card purchases and checks too, his aint new. If its got numbers “they” can number it. Cash and carry, ( kinda has a double meaning) and even that cash has got numbers as well as the item you purchased. So now what are “they” going ti do with alk that information, nothing. Well maybe in twenty or thirty years when they get them quantem computers up and running. Thirty years, dang, and Ive run into a major snag on the Nuetrino Fission/Fussion Blomb, I cant light the fuse in a rain storm, not with gofor matches anyway.

  24. Really? Is this a problem? Why are you using a credit card for everything, cash is king. Just pay cash, issue solved. I know this will piss a bunch of you off, but If you need to pay for it with a credit card, you probably can’t afford it.
    Although if you really use the airline miles (most don’t) it pays to use a card for big purchases. My friend bought a new Chevy Suburban, put it on the card and paid it off at the end of the month, because he had the cash saved. He got the airline miles and flew all over (two out of state hunts and to Alaska) for about a year, free of charge.

      • Shtt I never thought of that. I dont use plastic or checks myself, mainly for the very reason of who bought what. Ban cash, that’ll be a tough one. Gradually fade it out with online purchases, be my guess, you want item A- Z its online, not GuysnGalls Bisquits n Bullets

    • I tried to buy a Polaris 4×4 with a credit card and the dealer wanted a 5% up-charge, so I went to my bank and got a cashiers check for the transaction.

  25. Elections have consequences. The left took the state and now they’ll run the table on gun control.

    Added to that we have a federal government that forgot that it was their job to defend the constitution, not find clever ways to circumvent it, so there ya go.

  26. I’m betting that isn’t legal. But I keep wondering why Democrats keep asking for a demonstration of the Second Amendment re the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.

    • Is not legal,,,,,,legal,,,,whoe’s going to stop them. Id bet both parties think its great.

    • I’m about as right wing as anyone but you sure throw the word “treason” around a lot. Like pretty much in every post you make. Actually, every one.

      Everything you disagree with is not treason. It’s objectionable, and we don’t like it, but it’s just not treasonous.

      • trea·son
        /ˈtrēzən/

        noun

        the crime of betraying one’s country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.

        We The People and our Constitution ARE the “sovereign” authority here in the United States. And anyone who advocates for violation of any of our rights secured by our Constitution is most definitely guilty of betraying us.

        Why don’t you learn the FACTS before commenting further?

  28. Since this does not involve gun bans or magazine bans it gives the corrupt courts the option of pretending to be pro 2A and rule this as unconstitutional because it also falls under other constitutional protections as well. Since it does organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, although they would like the anti-gun law, would be willing to sanction an overturn of the law because to let the law stand would threaten any business or consumer or manufacturer of any item in regards to right to privacy laws and possible bankruptcy. But do not hold your breath as an overturn is not a guaranteed slam dunk.

  30. Now they are assaulting the Fourth Amendment. The answer is Bitcoin. Stay ahead of the government it is not too hard.

  33. A guy buys two 500 round bulk packs of 5.56 and 1K rounds of 9mm. Who is to say if the guy is a high consumption hobbyist, a prepper, stocking because of good deals or if the guy has terrorist/mass murder plans?

    Unless it a non typical scumbag like In Vegas, how many guns and how much ammo is needed to cross the four body mass shooter threshold?

    This is just more worthless gun grabber and Gov mandated intrusion into private purchases and commercial transactions. It will NEVER identify a threat “before the Act” and only serve to make unsubstantiated assumptions that lawful activity is criminal preparation.

    State wants it, State should pay for it: every bit of date, operting systems, data storage and commercial employee salaries and benefits to run it.

  34. When u have a natural human right codified in the Constitutional Frame Work in this republic that protects any firearm nobody can say SHIP about etttttt….learn to like it or face boiling hot tar & feathering after a through whipping with bull whip.. followed by rope justice!

    In fact any list about firearms purchases is treason punishable with the death penalty! The Gov FBI/ATF has to destroy all background ck info in 24hrs!

    I know….u might say they don’t…well let them bring a case up in court were they have those records…BOOM ur Lawyer just made u a Billionaire!!!!!!! And all involved serve jail time in bubba’s rape house!

    Boiling Hot Tar Changes Minds Fast!

  35. My question is what are they going to do if the banks or credit card companies don’t want to give them the info?

  36. The Government is now going after the 4th Amendment as well as the 2nd Amendment. They won’t stop until we all are reduced to being peasants with no rights whatsoever.

    • “The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state-controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon democracy. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military. The hired servants of our rulers. Only the government and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.”
      — Edward Abbey The Right to Arms (New York, 1979).

  37. What an excellent way to keep all gun sales in stores and subject to background checks. This will definitely ensure that the legislators will be reelected also. NOT! What kind of special stupid are these legislators to not see that this will drive all gun sales out of their state, and thus no sales tax revenue, or underground where there are no checks and balances. People, you need to recall these legislators and put someone in their place that has a working mind.

  38. So, anyone who buys multiple guns, lots of ammo, multiple magazines, or similar pattern of pure cases should be considered a potential terrorist or mass murderer? in other words, at least 60 million Americans are to be targeted by law enforcement based on Dems perception of gun owners.

    • Democrats! Yeah, right! What has been introduced in the last 16 years, that didn’t exist before. Clue “The Patriot Act of 2003″…

    • “So, anyone who buys multiple guns, lots of ammo, multiple magazines, or similar pattern of pure cases should be considered a potential terrorist or mass murderer?”

      There are those who will tell you that anyone who wants to own a gun demonstrates unmistakably they shouldn’t be permitted to have a gun.

  40. I’ve paid cash, for the last 30 years, for every firearm I own. Just in case something like this comes along.

  41. This bill doesn’t have a chance in passing especially given the Republican control of the Senate and the Presidency. Plus, FinCEN is already bogged down with filing/cataloging millions of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by financial institutions, certain retailers, etc. This bill would cause an undue burden on FinCEN who itself would balk at the proposed legislation. Plus, the bill is an intrusive means to capture purchases by someone supposedly predetermined to commit “lone wolf acts of terror” by attempting to establish patterns, etc. All it takes is one weapon purchase to do that. What if someone builds their own gun(s) and buy parts from numerous vendors? Can you imagine FinCEN or anyone else tracking that? In other words, the proposed bill demonizes every individual by labeling him/her as a “lone wolf” hellbent on terror. Zero chance of passing.

  43. They can not pass any laws by just saying so when the people has that right no elected organization, person, politic or not that is the choice of all the people of America not one city not one state, there are ALOT of the public don’t realize just because a person is elected into office doesn’t give the power to control your rights that our forefathers set to protect us from selfish idiots,who don’t give a damn about America or its people.

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