The unserious people running this country fiddle as the United States burns with an economy in shambles and soaring crime rates, but make no mistake, the Biden administration has found something it is willing to work on: Taking complete control of our personal lives and obliterating our constitutional rights in order to do so.

The latest iteration of their obsession is a new end-run against the Second Amendment through the creation of a gun registry, which is prohibited by federal law, and ultimately complete gun control. How? An announcement by the credit card processor Visa revealed they will be adopting a new merchant code created by an international organization to track purchases at gun retailers. Currently, gun and ammunition purchases are listed generically under a code used for sporting goods stores in general, which includes gun retailers.  

The Democrats know they are limited by those pesky and irritating things called the Constitution and federal law, so they decided to hire the proverbial hit men to do their dirty work for them. Much like the revelation that the Biden administration colluded with Big Tech to censor and ban Americans on social media, in this case they want the credit card processors and the banks to be their agent and enforcer in making the Second Amendment a toothless novelty. Additionally, Fox News reports, Republicans have “filed a lawsuit against President Biden, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top administration officials alleging that they ‘pressured and colluded’ with Big Tech social media companies to censor and suppress information on the Hunter Biden laptop story, COVID-19 origins and security of voting by mail during the pandemic.” Now this sounds like more than a slightly familiar tactic.

Firearm consultants Orchid Advisors reports on how the push for the new firearms merchant code began just six months into Biden’s presidency: “The application was submitted to the International Standards Organization (ISO) in July 2021 by Amalgamated Bank, a New York-based financial institution with a mission as ‘America’s most socially responsible bank’ to ‘advance positive social change.’ […] Today, Amalgamated customers include the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Governors Association, as well as campaigns for President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Elizabeth Warren.” The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action reports gun control groups and New York City Mayor Eric Adams were also involved and supported the action.

Some may want to hide the actual gun registry and control agenda being exposed, but Patricia Sims Brown, the CEO of Amalgamated Bank, said the quiet thing out loud earlier this month: “Everyone has a responsibility to do what they can to stop gun violence. As a bank, it is our right and responsibility to report the use of the financial system to fuel black market gun sales and sales associated with mass shootings,” reported the New York Post.

If you think all of this sounds familiar, you would be right. The Obama administration’s Department of Justice implemented “Operation Choke Point” pressured banks to cut off businesses not favored by the Democrats, like gun retailers and payday loan businesses under the guise of “rooting out fraud.” The Trump administration put an end to the atrocious practice when he became president in 2017.

The NRA explains this new merchant code (MCC) will also provide “a new tool to use in [the left’s] lawfare campaign against lawful businesses. The groups claim that they expect banks and payment processors to ‘flag’ so-called ‘suspicious’ transactions with the new MCC. Notably, no standards are given for what would be considered ‘suspicious.’” Moreover, “Anti-gun groups will almost certainly use the new flagging system to create liability for any banks or payment processors who do business with the firearm industry…”

There is some good new here. GOP star Elise Stefanik (R-NY) along with 100 other House Republicans are demanding answers from all the major credit card processors, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. She asks if the companies intend the share gun sales records with the government and refers to credit card processors’ initial hesitation at implementing a new code specifically for firearms retailers, “It has been widely reported that American Express, Mastercard, and Visa did not support this application,” the Stefanik-led letter says. “Specifically, Visa recently stated that they ‘believe that asking payment networks to serve as a moral authority by deciding which legal goods can or cannot be purchased sets a dangerous precedent.’ We could not agree more.”

“I am adamantly opposed to this attempt to track the information of law-abiding gun owners and am calling out this attempt to infringe on our Constitutional, Second Amendment rights… As Far Left gun grabbing politicians seek to further erode our Constitution, I’m working to ensure credit card companies are not aiding in their anti-Second Amendment agenda,” Stefanik told the New York Post.

Godspeed to Elise, but she will only have the power to follow through if the GOP takes the House in November. They also must take the Senate if we are to have any hope stopping the damage the Democrats are so intent on inflicting.

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