The state of Florida has a message for major credit card companies and payment processors who have either announced they will begin assigning a special code to gun and ammo sales for the purpose of tracking them or are preparing to do so: Bad idea.
The CEOs of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have announced that their companies will cave to woke progressive anti-gun groups who have pushed for the special classification and tracking, but Florida is warning they will pay a price for it if they do.
Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis issued a strong statement this week warning that if the companies proceed with their plans, they will face penalties.
“The second amendment is foundational to our American way of life,” Patronis said. “The idea that law-abiding Americans would be put on some kind of corporate watchlist is disturbing. Our rights come from our Creator, not the government, and especially not big corporations.
“It is clear that the actions by these credit card companies are part of a larger effort to curtail God-given constitutional rights of Americans. It is also symptomatic of the virus known as ESG, which is part of a global effort to socially re-engineer the country that we love so much. There is no way we are going to allow that to happen in the free state of Florida,” the statement added.
“If we come to the legislative session and companies like Visa, Mastercard and American Express are generating these reports to create a chilling effect against the purchase of firearms, then I’ll work with the Legislature to pass a law penalizing businesses who are targeting the right to bear arms,” Patronis continued. “We’ve seen a groundbreaking ruling come out of the Fifth Circuit limiting corporations’ ability to curtail American’s constitutional rights, so we are on solid legal footing to pursue a bill protecting Floridians 2nd Amendment Rights.
“We can also take it a step further by barring these companies from doing any business with the State of Florida. We will send a message out to these large corporations that if you are interested in doing business with Florida, you need to make sure that you’re protecting Floridians’ right to arm and defend themselves,” he added.
Critics of the decision by the payment processors to the new Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for gun and ammunition sales after they were set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have said the tracking violates the Second Amendment as well as customers’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy.
