A new California law requires credit card networks like Visa and Mastercard to provide banks with special codes that can be assigned to gun stores in order to track their sales. New laws will do the opposite in Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee and Wyoming, banning the use of specific gun shop codes, reports the Associated Press. The conflicting laws highlight a new gun policy debate, dividing state capitols along partisan lines. Some gun-control activists hope the new retail tracking code will help financial institutions flag suspicious gun-related purchases for law enforcement agencies, potentially averting mass shootings and other crimes. Lawmakers in Colorado and New York have followed California’s lead. “The merchant category code is the first step in the banking system saying, `Enough! We’re putting our foot down,’” said Hudson Munoz of the advocacy group Guns Down America. "`You cannot use our system to facilitate gun crimes.’”
Republican lawmakers and gun-rights advocates fear the retail code could lead to unwarranted suspicion of gun buyers who have done nothing wrong. Over the past 16 months, 17 states with GOP-led legislatures have passed measures prohibiting a firearms store code or limiting its use. "We view this as a first step by gun-control supporters to restrict the lawful commerce in firearms,” said Lawrence Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. States have dug opposing lines on other gun policies. On July 4, Republican-led Louisiana will become the 29th state to allow residents to carry concealed guns without a permit. Democratic-led New Mexico this year tightened laws for people who don’t have concealed-carry permits, requiring a seven-day waiting period for gun purchases, more than double the three-day period for a federal background check. States have responded differently to mass shootings. In Maine, where an Army reservist killed 18 people and wounded 13 others, the Democratic-led legislature passed new gun restrictions. After school shootings in Iowa and Tennessee, Republican-led legislatures took steps that could allow more trained teachers to bring guns to classrooms.