The legal landscape for firearm sales in Tennessee is poised for change as Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti takes assertive action to ensure financial institutions play by the new rules. Skrmetti's office confirmed that letters were dispatched to American Express, Mastercard, and Visa, each a heavyweight in the credit card industry, with a clear reminder to align their operations with the imminent Tennessee Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act set to take effect on July 1, 2024. Detailed reports of this development were published by the Tennessee Attorney General's office on Thursday.

At the heart of this legislative manouver is a reaction to what Tennessee's lawmakers see as an overstep by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Previously, in 2022, the ISO established a Merchant Category Code (MCC) that singled out firearm retailers. Aligned with the Governor's vision, the Tennessee legislature crafted the Act as a countermove, effectively barring financial institutions from utilizing such a code to differentiate firearm transactions from standard sales, in a direct response to activist efforts to push this agenda through a European-based non-government entity.

In his insistence on compliance, Attorney General Skrmetti directed a no-nonsense message toward the CEOs of the aforementioned financial institutions. The statement from his office quotes him, “The credit card companies have known this is coming and need to be prepared to comply with Tennessee’s new Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act the day it goes into effect,” further reinforcing Skrmetti's preparedness to enforce this law, respecting the democratic process of the state's legislative power.