Joining American Express and Mastercard, Visa will now separately categorize gun shop sales to track any suspicious quantities of firearm sales that could lead to mass shootings.
The move comes after the three major payment processors were requested to change their categorization for weapons sales by the Attorney Generals for New York and California.
On Saturday, Visa announced it would accept the International Organization for Standardization's new merchant code for gun shop sales, ABC News reported.
Prior to the change, gun store sales were labeled as "general merchandise," but the new IOS code announced on Friday will change that.
The concept is similar to how banks and financial institutions look at money laundering, but now experts say it could help stop gun trafficking and prevent mass shootings.
Visa released a statement on Saturday announcing its decision, saying, "Following ISO's decision to establish a new merchant category code, Visa will proceed with next steps, while ensuring we protect all legal commerce on the Visa network in accordance with our long-standing rules."
Those opposed to the move say that categorizing gun shop sales will only target lawful gun owners while being unfair to most firearm sales that don't result in a mass shooting, Politico reported.
Merchant category codes are not specific to gun sales as codes exist for most purchases, including those made at clothing stores, supermarkets, or even on airline tickets. New York City Mayor Eric Adams shared in a press conference that the decision to specifically code gun stores makes sense.
"When you buy an airline ticket or pay for your groceries, your credit card company has a special code for those retailers. It's just common sense that we have the same policies in place for gun and ammunition stores," Adams said.
One real-world example gun control advocates have used to show that the system would work is the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting.
A week before the Orlando, Florida mass shooting, the gunman had gone to a gun store and purchased $26,000 in guns and ammunition on credit cards, a purchase that would now be flagged, Fox News reported.
However, second amendment supporters have pointed out a flaw in the system, as the merchant codes only label where the purchase is being made, not what the purchase is.
This means if someone were to buy a gun safe, for example, it would be flagged as a large purchase because the item can cost thousands of dollars. This could result in the sale being stopped, even though gun safes are meant for gun safety.
National Rifle Association spokesman Lars Dalseide shared in a statement that the decision will do nothing but aid politicians looking to restrict lawful gun owners.
"The [industry's] decision to create a firearm-specific code is nothing more than a capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans one transaction at a time," Dalseide said.
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