On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate passed the Gun Owners Financial Privacy Act, which aims to establish privacy rights for gun buyers. The bipartisan bill passed the Alabama Senate unanimously. SB 281 was sponsored by State Senator Tim Melson (R-Florence).

The bill would prohibit financial institutions from denying payment card transactions for the purchase of a firearm or for purchases from retailers that sell firearms. It would also prohibit government agencies from creating or maintaining lists or registries of privately owned firearms or firearm owners. If passed, the bill would provide for civil remedies against agencies that violate the act.

“This bill is a consumer protection bill,” said Senator Melson. “This bill would assign every store a four-digit code, a store category code, that would prevent stores from using this information to record or track gun and ammunition purchases.”

“This measure has nothing to do with the ATF, as they have to go through the steps they normally would when making a purchase,” Melson said, “Several states already have this measure in place. This wasn't an issue until a separate code was issued for these transactions.”

Melson called on the Senate to adopt an alternative version of the bill.

“This alternative, as agreed, removes the banking language and leaves only the credit card language,” Melson said.

SB 281 passed the Senate as an alternative bill by a vote of 32-0.

House Bill 389 is a companion bill to House bill SB 281. HB 389 will be heard in the House Financial Services Committee at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The bill is a key action item for the National Rifle Association (NRA).

“Contact members of the House Financial Services Committee and ask them to support HB 389!,” the NRA-ILA wrote in an email to members Tuesday night. “SB 281 and HB 389 prohibit payment processors from using firearm/ammunition-specific dealer category codes. This is an important protection for gun owners and prevents third parties from misusing personal purchasing information.”

“Firearms retailers' collection of financial transaction data amounts to surveillance and registration of law-abiding gun owners,” the NRA-ILA continued.

“Those promoting this plan are in favor of a registry of firearms and gun owners. Therefore, we must assume that the purpose of this program is to share the collected MCC data of all firearm retailers with government authorities and private third parties, which may include gun control groups and anti-gun researchers.”

SB 281 will now be sent to the House for debate. Wednesday is lawmakers' committee day, and Thursday marks the 25th day of the 2024 legislative session.

To contact the author of this story or to comment, email [email protected]