South Carolina House Bill 3930: Fighting Back Against Financial Discrimination of the Second Amendment
In the ever-evolving battle to protect Second Amendment rights, South Carolina has stepped up with legislation aimed at combating a subtle yet dangerous form of gun control—financial discrimination against the firearms industry. Known as House Bill 3930 (H.3930), this piece of legislation is part of a growing nationwide effort to block the use of financial tools as a means to throttle constitutionally protected freedoms.
What Is House Bill 3930?
South Carolina H.3930, introduced in the state legislature, seeks to prohibit the use of merchant category codes (MCCs) that specifically target firearms and ammunition retailers. These codes are used by credit card companies to classify businesses based on the type of goods or services they provide. Normally, this kind of classification is routine—but when it’s weaponized against legal gun purchases, it becomes a problem.
The bill prevents financial institutions operating in South Carolina from using MCCs designed specifically to track or flag firearms-related transactions. This legislation is important because these proposed MCCs basically lead to financial institutions being able to build a database of gun owners and do whatever they want with that data. I’m not ok with that.
The Background: A Financial Trojan Horse
To fully understand the motivation behind H.3930, one must look at the growing trend of financial institutions working in tandem with gun control interests. As detailed in this article I wrote last year, the push to implement a separate MCC for gun stores came largely from activist shareholders and politicians hoping to create an unofficial gun registry by tracking purchase patterns.
Visa, Mastercard, and American Express initially agreed to the code change, but after considerable backlash and legal threats, many paused implementation. Still, the damage was done—the idea of financial surveillance had been introduced, and gun owners around the country took notice.
A Growing Trend Among Pro-2A States
South Carolina isn’t alone. This week Arkansas also passed through a similar bill. Other states such as Florida, Mississippi, and Texas have introduced or passed similar bills to protect firearm-related transactions from being unfairly targeted. These legislative efforts reflect a growing realization: the next battleground for gun rights may not be the legislature or the courts—it may be your wallet.