The gun-grabbing leftists want to take away your guns…no news there. But since they cannot, thanks to the 2nd Amendment, they are doing everything else in their power to prevent you from your right to bear arms.
One of the ways they are attempting to do so is through intimidation, which we know takes on many forms. By now, I’m sure we’ve all seen the viral video of the ATF agent knocking on the door of a Delaware man’s home using the ruse they were looking for straw purchases. And if you haven’t seen the video, taken by the homeowner’s Ring doorbell camera, you probably heard about the incident. Click here if you want to see the video.
Another method of intimidation is to identify gun owners through state or national databases. The purpose is to be able to target gun owners by law enforcement and the government for the purpose of future gun confiscation, similar to what the Nazis did when they came to power in pre-World War 2 Germany. The Constitution strictly prohibits government from having a list of gun owners for this very reason.
But that is not stopping the leftist gun-grabbers. Their latest attempt to is to get the major credit card companies to monitor your gun purchases, to get you on this database through the back door. Every purchase you make with a credit card uses a Merchant Category Code, or MCC for short. Goods and services you buy with credit cards are assigned MCCs. So, gasoline is assigned an MCC. Groceries are assigned an MCC. But until this summer, there was no MCC for gun purchases. The MCC simply was “general merchandise”.
These leftist communists have successfully petitioned the major credit card companies to create an MCC for gun purchases. While the information obtained during the credit card authorization process does not identify what was purchased, the credit card company does know that a card issued to John W. Smith was used at Bass Pro Shops for $1000. Smith may have purchased other items along with a new gun, such as fishing gear, work boots and a flannel shirt. Or he may have simply purchased a new bass boat and nothing else.
The purpose of this MCC nonsense it to look into the bank accounts of John W. Smith. If the Feds see a deposit of $1000 in his bank account a day before he made his Bass Pro purchase(s), the Feds may construe Smith is engaging in a straw purchase, a purchase by a legally qualified gun buyer for someone who is prohibited from buying guns, such as a convicted felon. In their pinhead view, the prohibited person is giving you money so the next day you can buy a gun for them.
Another round is the so called “Sales Tax” angle. In my state, as an FFL, every gun transfer I do, if the transfer includes a handgun, I must complete a state “sales tax” form and submit it to the state. This form, unfortunately, identifies the gun, the serial number, and the owner. Nothing I can do about it.
A third end-around technique the government is using to get names into a database is to identify any multi-gun purchases. By “multi-gun”, I mean more than three (3) guns in a single 24-hour period. All gun sellers, as FFLs, are required to complete ATF Form 3310, if a gun buyer purchases more than three guns from that seller within a 24-hour period.
So how do gun buyers get around this? There are two ways.
First, don’t buy more than three guns in any 24-hour period from a single seller. If you absolutely need to purchase more than three guns in any 24-hour period, patronize different sellers. Or give some serious thought as to why you need all of them in one day.
Second, if you are doing this at a gun show, buy one gun on Saturday at 10:00 and another one on Sunday at 2:00. Two separate ATF Form 4473s will be completed, and each form is date and TIME stamped when the approval request was given. This is not illegal. You are just doing it outside the 24-hour window of the first purchase. Or go to separate gun shows. In my area, gun shows are frequent. Wait another week or so to buy your other guns.
Bottom line, these communist restrictions can be overcome. How? By staying off the grid.
Don’t use your personal credit card. Pay with cash or gift cards. Then the credit card company has nothing to report back to the feds, despite the MCC they use to record the transaction. Yes, it can be a pain in the ass to run to a local CVS, grab a bunch of American Express gift cards, and stand in line while the clerk activates them, but that inconvenience is a small price to pay.
Better yet, pay with cash. But check with the merchant first to see if they accept cash for gun purchases.
Alter your multi-gun buying habits. Don’t buy more than three at one time. But if you must, mix things up. Alter the purchase dates/times. Patronize different sellers. Buy at different gun shows or stores.
Buy long guns instead of handguns. If you buy an AR-15, I do not have to report that on any state “sales tax?” form. Buy a shotgun or rifle.
