Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor joined 21 other U.S. states in an open letter to President Joe Biden and the CEOs of American Express, Mastercard, and Visa condemning their recent decisions to unfairly discriminate against one type of vendor over another.
“United States citizens have certain rights under the Constitution. Private businesses should not be allowed to manage, track or deny citizens the ability to exercise those rights,” stated Governor Mike Dunleavy. “We will continue to fight any agency, organization, or businesses who attempts to limit the rights of Alaskans.”
Recently, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) asked the companies to create Merchant Category Codes for gun stores and firearms vendors that would permit the tracking and possible denial of purchases made at gun stores, regardless of whether a firearm was being purchased, according to the Alaska Department of Law. This would prevent any item from being purchased using a credit or debit card from either of these companies but wouldn’t prevent firearms from being purchased from general vendors.
“This proposed Merchant Category Code of gun merchants is a step in the wrong direction,” added Attorney General Treg Taylor. “I swore to uphold the Constitution, and a key part of it is the Second Amendment. This list could be misused by those who oppose Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights. Alaska and 21 other states are going to fight against this.”
The letter underscores the impact the decision will have on businesses and individuals without impacting the overall sale of firearms.
