DISCOVER CARD to begin tracking gun and ammunition purchases in April 1, 2023.
UPDATE – March 10, 2023: Thursday, March 9th DISCOVER CARD suspends intent to track gun and ammunition purchases.
57 Million+ Users Impacted as Financial Company Becomes First to Track Gun Purchases
Western Journal Independent Journal Review, March 2, 2023
Anyone using a Discover card to make a purchase in a gun store will have that purchase tracked, beginning in April.
“We remain focused on continuing to protect and support lawful purchases on our network while protecting the privacy of cardholders,” Discover said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Last year, the International Organization for Standardization, an international body, announced that it was creating a new merchant category code for gun shop sales. Such stores had formerly been classified as dealers in “general merchandise,” according to Fox Business.
As noted by CNBC, the code will show where a purchase was made and the amount, but not what was bought.
As noted by the website UpgradedPoints, there are 57 million Discover credit cards in existence
Discover Card to Begin Tracking Gun Purchases in April
Breitbart, March 2, 2023
Beginning in April 2023, Discover will become the first credit card issuer to track gun purchases made by their cardholders.
On September 11, 2022, Breitbart News noted that Visa caved to pressure from gun control groups and New York Democrats, agreeing to flag gun and ammo purchases via a new sales categorization.
The Associated Press observed that Mastercard and other major credit cards also agreed to flag gun sales.
On March 2, 2023, the Independent Journal Review (IJR) reported that Discover will be first among credit card companies to track gun sales, inasmuch as the company will begin doing so in April. IJR explained, “Anyone using a Discover card to make a purchase in a gun store will have that purchase tracked, beginning in April.”
There are over 55 million Discover cards in usage, so a lot of information on gun purchases can be gathered via that one company.