New legislation would shield Florida gun and ammo purchase data

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Newly proposed legislation would protect data from Florida gun and ammo purchases from being collected by credit card companies.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, State Senator Danny Burgess, and State Representative John Snyder announced the proposed legislation at a press conference in Titusville Tuesday.

The “Florida Arms and Ammo Act” would prohibit the collection of Floridians’ financial data from firearm and ammunition purchases and impose fines on credit card companies that collect data on those purchases.

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Last September, several state attorneys general notified major credit card companies that they would face legal action for creating a Merchant Category Code to track firearm and ammo sales.

Commissioner Simpson said the yet-to-be-drafted bill seeks to stop Florida gun owners from being penalized for exercising a constitutional right.

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“This bill prohibits the use of MCC code which is a merchant code identifying guns and ammunition, and fines credit card companies up to $10,000 per incident,” Simpson said.

State Senator Danny Burgess and State Representative John Snyder said the plan is to introduce the legislation this year.

“I am grateful for Commissioner Simpson’s leadership and look forward to working with Rep. Snyder to send this important legislation to Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk this year,” Burgess said.

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Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said he also supports the legislation.

“We have a responsibility to make sure our citizens can exercise their God-given rights,” Ivey said.

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