AB 468

This bill prohibits a financial institution, as part of a payment card transaction,

from requiring the use of a merchant category code that identifies the merchant as

a firearms retailer. The bill also provides that the Department of Justice may not

maintain a list of firearm purchasers based on information from background checks

that DOJ performs and that no governmental entity may maintain a list of firearm

owners. The bill requires the attorney general to enforce the prohibitions created in

this bill.

Firearms codes in payment card transactions

The bill prohibits a financial institution or its agent from requiring the use of

a firearms code in a way that distinguishes a firearms retailer from general

merchandise retailers or sporting goods retailers. The bill defines a “financial

institution" as an entity involved in facilitating or processing a payment card

transaction, including a bank, acquirer, payment card network, or payment card

issuer. The bill defines “firearms code" as the merchant category code 5723, approved

in September 2022 by the International Organization for Standardization, for

firearms retailers. In addition, with limited exceptions, a financial institution may

not discriminate against a firearms retailer by declining a lawful payment card

transaction based solely on the assignment or nonassignment of a firearms code.

Prohibitions on government lists of firearm owners

Current law provides that a federally licensed firearms dealer may not transfer

a handgun after a sale until the dealer has requested DOJ to perform a background

check on the prospective transferee to determine if he or she is prohibited from

possessing a firearm under state or federal law. Unless the background check

indicates that the prospective transferee is prohibited from possessing a firearm,

current law requires DOJ to deny access to records regarding background checks and

to destroy all such records within 30 days after the background check is complete.

This bill further requires DOJ to ensure that such records are not stored,

maintained, or formatted into a list that identifies persons who have purchased a

firearm.

The bill also prohibits governmental entities from intentionally creating,

storing, or maintaining a list of individuals who own firearms. The bill provides an

exception for criminal investigations or prosecutions or for determining compliance

with court orders or injunctions.