Let's put some perspective on this whole merchant code bone tossed to the ant-gunners.
This is from an email:
Message from the Owner Regarding Credit Card Tracking
Dear Customers of KIR Ammo,
Thank you all for your continued support of our family-owned business.
Because of repeated phone calls and emails from you and new customers alike, I want to address the current issue of major credit card companies attempting to categorize/track gun and ammo purchases. The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has long been petitioning credit card companies to create a separate MCC (Merchant Category Code) for firearms and ammunition purchases. These MCCs define a business's primary source of revenue. As of today, KIR Ammo's code is 5941 (Sporting Goods), along with other retail giants like Academy Sports and Outdoors, Cabela's, Bass Pro, Dick's Sporting Goods and many others. Keep in mind, credit card companies are not legally bound by ISO rules, they are merely suggestions.
As defined by VISA, MCC 5941 includes the following: Backpacking Equipment, Bait, Tackle Stores, Billiard Tables, Camping Equipment, Cutlery – Sporting Knives, Exercise Equipment, Fishing Equipment, Bait, Tackle, Golf Equipment, Gun Shops, Hiking Equipment, Hunting Equipment, Supplies, In-Line Skates Shops, Pool Tables, Rollerblade Shops, Scuba, Skin Diving Equipment, Skateboard Shops, Ski Shops, Skin Diving, Scuba Equipment, Surfboards, Accessories, Trekking Equipment, Windsurf Boards.
As you can see, this list is very long and encompasses a wide variety of sporting goods. I pose the question: how will credit card companies know whether you've purchased 10 hats from KIR Ammo, 50 stickers, a flamethrower, ammo cans, optics, brass, or anything other than a gun or finished ammo when we run your card? Let me make this abundantly clear: KIR Ammo will NEVER share any of your invoices, packing slips, or purchase history with ANYONE, unless we are being audited by the ATF (which is a Federal requirement for all FFLs - and even then, they are only allowed to see what guns have been purchased/transferred through our License - nothing else). Also, how will the credit card companies know if somebody walks into Academy (insert any sporting goods store) to buy a weight bench versus a Glock versus a grill or anything else? On the surface it seems unenforceable and far too complicated to me, but alas, here we are talking about this. Last question: do credit card companies REALLY want to do this? Even as a small company, KIR Ammo pays roughly 3% of our Gross Revenue in credit card processing fees every month - do they really want to lose that cash flow by pushing people away from using cards?
FOR THOSE WISHING TO USE OTHER FORMS OF PAYMENT: we are currently accepting Zelle, CashApp, Wire Transfers, and money orders/bank checks - please call to make arrangements if you wish to choose any of those options (personal checks are ok, but it will take forever to get your ammo because we would have to wait for it to get here AND clear in our account before shipment). Of course, if you are local, we accept cash.
Also as a side note the CC codes are not mandatory for businesses to use, they are primarily used for tier level cash back cards and even Visa has stated they will not let the new codes interfere with any legal sales. How does Visa know they are legal sales? They don't.
