I posted this question on the USCCA forum too, but I wanted to see what answers anyone had here too. Alright, so here’s the really simple question:
Which credit card companies are NOT coding firearm and related purchases the way that Visa, AMEX and Mastercard have agreed to do based on Warren’s plan? I don’t mind canceling a card and swapping out to Discover, Capital One, etc. if the rates and annual fee stuff aren’t an issue. It is dead simple to apply for a credit card, so I can have a new one strictly for firearm, firearm accessories, and ammo purchases in a matter of days. I vote with my wallet in the free market, where credit card companies will see how it affects their slice of the pie. The political/legislative/legal processes here are slow and unwieldy, but I can immediately drop a credit company with little more than a few clicks or a phone call. What are the current alternatives?
As @GuitarGuy said cash is probably the best option. Other ways, I guess, would be Bitcoin or something like that, money orders (not USPS), and if they are even still available, paper gift certificates. Gift cards are essentially credit cards so I wouldn’t trust them. I think ALL of the credit card processors are going to sign up for the tracking code.
Yeah this is going to be interesting… wondering if something like zelle paying directly to dealers will be an option ? I’d imagine that will be tracked as well …
Will PSA either A. begin accepting Money orders or COD orders, or B. Open Franchise shops in all free states and do like Rural King does and ship product to those states and stores?
I for one would love to see a PSA section in Rural King. I would spend so much cash.
Checking accounts are going to make a huge comeback. Electronic checking. Direct funds transfer. Visa will lose so many transaction fees going forward. If I cannot freely buy a gun or ammo. I will no longer buy groceries, or gas. I recently moved to RaceTrac card tied to my checking account for the 10-30 cents off. No visa fees there. Now, when shopping at any store. I will use my debit card, visa, to buy a small item, and get max cash back. Then pay the remainder of my purchase with cash. if the amount is 98.77 I will pay 98.00 in cash and .77 on the visa, so their fee exceeds the amount spent to the merchant.
Dear merchants, if you are not arguing against this, you will get slammed. Some of us will just not shop as we once did.
Feel free to correct me. But I think it doesn’t matter at all. Do you honestly think “they” don’t already know you own firearms? You can use cash and they still do a background check. “They” already track your social media and what you say. “They” access your camera and “they” listen. “They” can track your location at stores and ranges.
I don’t agree with the tracking of debit/credit cards. But if you think all of the sudden they’re going to find out you bought a gun or ammo then don’t you think they already know?
I just thought this about your comment while driving today and running errands… How are you gonna buy the PSA gift card? With your debit card that they track?
It does matter. There are limits to state knowledge, control, and ability to respond effectively whether the ideas are noble or nefarious. The move here would reduce those limits significantly and open up avenues to collude with private interests to control your own money and property. If the model works with firearms, which are protected under the constitution, what other property or good couldn’t they throw up barriers to? Want to eat meat? Maybe you’ve had too much already, and contributed more than your share to some arbitrary carbon offset goal. Well then, let’s just suspend account activity for any credit card purchase that returns the code for animal protein this month. You can survive on beans and quinoa for 30 days. If they have to piece that together from Facebook and geotracking data then they can only raise an issue after the fact, and I can go to court about that. It may not sound like a huge distinction to you, but there’s a big difference between seizing legally purchased property in a world where everyone has a camera and can instantly post that to Instagram, and a world where they don’t have to look like jackboots because they prevented you from ever having the property in the first place by blocking it at the point of sale.
I get it. You’re from California and you’ve been losing on this stuff legally and politically for a long time, and you’re worn down. But laying down on this is bad news. No state entity should be able to have granular control over your private property. But if they can create a red flag for an arbitrarily interpreted meaning of “suspicious activity” and compel private financial institutions to cancel purchases based on the pretense of public safety and law enforcement, then there’s a huge incentive to exploit that kind of power. It’s like dangling a steak in front of a pack of wolves.
So, I have to choose my votes and my financial relationships based on terms that don’t put me in positions where I’m beholden to these sorts of games. Forgive me if I must respectfully disagree with you on how much it matters. I’m in a state that currently has more regard for freedom, and I’m still very interested in keeping it that way. I sincerely wish the same for all of you.
Yea…they tracked i bought a gift card?! So what? i gave it away like normal… or not, even so they’ll know i bought a gift card not what i or anyone else used it for.
Supposedly they cant track regular gift cards but i dont necessarily believe that.
Honestly i think this is a step towards their social credit score thing they want to implement and nothing to do with guns and ammo, just a front and talking point to distract.
