Section 45-9-203 - Legislative findings and intentThe Legislature finds that:
(a) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the people the right to keep and bear arms;(b) Article III, Section 12, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, provides that "The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but the Legislature may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons";(c) In September 2022, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), based in Switzerland, approved a new merchant category code for firearm and ammunition merchants;(d) In the letter to payment card networks, federal lawmakers stated that the new Merchant Category Code for firearms retailers would be ". . .the first step towards facilitating the collection of valuable financial data that could help law enforcement in countering the financing of terrorism efforts", expressing a clear government expectation that networks will utilize the new Merchant Category Code to conduct mass surveillance of constitutionally protected firearms and ammunition purchases in cooperation with law enforcement;(e) This potential for cooperative surveillance and tracking of lawful firearms and ammunition purchases will have a significant chilling effect on citizens wishing to exercise their federal and state constitutional rights to keep and bear arms in Mississippi;(f) While federal law requires some financial institutions to report transactions that are highly indicative of money laundering or other unlawful activities, there is no federal or state law authorizing financial institutions to surveil and track lawful activities by customers in cooperation with law enforcement;(g) The creation or maintenance of records of purchases of firearms or ammunition or the tracking of sales made by a retailer of firearms or ammunition by a nongovernmental entity, including a financial institution, without a substantial and historical business need or a requirement imposed by law, may frustrate the right to keep and bear arms and violate the reasonable privacy rights of lawful purchasers of firearms or ammunition; and(h) Based on the above stated findings, it is the intent of the Legislature to prohibit the misuse of payment card processing systems to surveil, report, or otherwise discourage constitutionally protected firearm and ammunition purchases within the State of Mississippi.Added by Laws, 2023, ch. 462, HB 1110,§ 2, eff. 1/1/2024.