National gun registry update: Discover to begin tracking gun purchases

In a move clearly designed to make it easier for government to build a national gun registry, Discover will soon begin tracking gun and ammunition purchases made with their credit cards.

Discover will start tracking these purchases in April, and though the company is the first to do so, other credit card companies expected to follow suit (via ReclaimTheNet.org):

Credit card provider Discover to will start tracking purchases at gun retailers in April, which will make it the first company to do so. Last September, the International Organization for Standardization, which determines payment cards’ merchant categories, approved a dedicated code for gun retailers in an attempt to help law enforcement solve gun-related crimes.

Proponents of the initiative, mainly left-wing politicians and gun control activists, hope it will help in the investigation of gun violence crimes in the US.

Discover said that the new code will be included in its next policy update scheduled for April.

“We remain focused on continuing to protect and support lawful purchases on our network while protecting the privacy of cardholders,” Discover told Reuters. (Emphasis mine)

Well, I feel much better after reading that last part. Don’t you?

If you doubt government’s role in this new policy, look no further than a story from a few months ago about New York City’s plan to force credit card companies to track gun purchases (via Gothamist.com):

More than four dozen state lawmakers have penned a letter to Mastercard and American Express, urging the New York-based credit card companies to support a measure that could make it easier to spot suspicious purchases at gun stores.

A Mastercard reference booklet lumps them into a “miscellaneous” category with magic stores, silk flower shops and bottled and distilled water dealers, or a “durable goods” category that also includes lighting fixtures and grave markers.

“I think people would be shocked to find that out,” said State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who spearheaded the letter, which was shared exclusively with Gothamist. It asks Mastercard and American Express to support the creation of a new code for gun sellers.

Myrie said a new code would make it easier to target individuals who intend to traffic guns or use them for mass shootings. People buying guns legally with no intent to harm people, he said, would have “absolutely nothing to worry about.” (Emphasis mine)

How will the Big Apple force credit card companies to do their bidding? By leveraging hundreds of millions of dollars in pension fund investments in Mastercard and American Express held by the Teachers’ Retirement System, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, and the Board of Education Retirement System.

“Using our pension dollars to ensure that it is helping lives, not destroying lives – this is the responsibility we have,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said.

With her history concerning the extreme lengths she is willing to go to deny New Yorkers their Second Amendment rights, I’m sure Governor Kathy Hochul is well pleased.

Discover’s plan to begin tracking gun purchases is a perfect complement to the work Joe Biden has already done to build a national gun registry, a registry that already contains approximately one billion records detailing American citizens’ firearm purchases.

One year ago, the ATF disclosed to lawmakers that it was already managing a database of 920,664,765 firearm purchase records — including both digital and hard copy versions of these transactions — a number that has undoubtably grown via the exploitation of legal loopholes like the one being used by credit card companies.

Biden first proposed the rule to create a national gun registry in November 2021. His proposal suggesting removing the 20-year burn date that the federal firearms licensees (dealers) must abide by — federal law allowed gun stores to destroy their records after 20 years — thus requiring them to preserve firearm purchase records older than two decades into perpetuity.

Aidan Johnston, the director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, warned in a statement at the time that Biden’s plan would not only create a national gun registry, but it would eventually lead to gun confiscation.

“These plans for a national [gun] registry violate federal law, infringe on the Second Amendment, and put law-abiding gun owners on the path to total gun confiscation.” (Emphasis mine)

Even as Biden continues building a national gun registry, he wants you to know that his anti-Second Amendment agenda is completely within the confines of the Constitution because, as he stated in April 2021 when he launched it, none of our rights are “absolute.”

“Nothing I’m about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment. They’re phony arguments suggesting these are Second Amendment rights at stake with what we’re talking about.

“No amendment, no amendment to the Constitution is absolute.”

“So, the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we’re recommending are contrary to the Constitution.” (Emphasis added)

Shortly after making that statement, Biden participated in a townhall event hosted by CNN where he gave us a hint as to his true objective when he told attendees about his intention to ban pistols and rifles:

They're not hiding their intentions. Joe Biden says he wants to ban handguns — not merely AR-15s like their previous dishonest talking points suggested. Watch Biden stumble through this town hall answer. pic.twitter.com/DI3CDTN1wL

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) July 22, 2021

“I’m the only guy that ever got — passed legislation when I was a senator to make sure we eliminated assault weapons.

“The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20, 30, 40, 50, 120 shots from that weapon, whether it’s a, whether it’s a 9mm pistol or whether it’s a rifle, is ridiculous.

“I’m continuing to push to eliminate the sale of those things…” (Emphasis mine)

By the way, Trumpist Republicans like to leverage the far-left’s anti-Second Amendment agenda for political gain, but we need to remember that they weren’t all that committed to protecting our gun rights when Trump was in office.

During his tenure, Trump was openly pro-gun-control and anti-Second Amendment. During his four years in office, he openly embraced Nancy Pelosi’s gun-control agenda, pushed for enhanced background checks, and proposed expanding red flag laws on a national level — three priorities important to the Trumpists in the Republican Party.

In the words of Aidan Johnson:

“If the American people don’t stand up for their rights now, Biden’s anti-gun ATF will be able to track gun owners, infringe on our rights, and potentially even confiscate our firearms.” (Emphasis mine)

Joe Biden and the ATF have been building a national gun registry for some time now, and with Discover and other credit card companies voluntarily tracking gun purchases, he could be well on the way to reaching his ultimate goal of gun confiscation.

 

---

David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.

Follow the Strident Conservative on Twitter and Facebook.

Subscribe to receive podcasts of his daily radio feature: iTunes | Stitcher | Tune In | iHeart | RSS

For media inquiries or to have David speak to your group, use the Contact Us form.