Two new California public safety laws set to take effect beginning in July

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A pair of new public safety laws authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting are set to take effect starting on Jul. 1.

AB 1587 requires financial institutions to create a Merchant Category Code to identify purchases of firearms and ammunition.

Retailers have until May of 2025 to integrate the code into their systems.

In January of this year , executives from Mastercard, Visa, and American Express each indicated to members of Congress they would have the code available to retailers in California by that deadline.

Merchant Category Codes (MCC) are four-digit numerical codes used to broadly categorize purchased products or services.

Almost all charged transactions on credit cards have an associated MCC and are used for an assortment of reasons including cash-back rewards as well as to determine what is reportable to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for tax purposes.

While there is not one universal set of MCCs, most categories are set within certain ranges of codes such as the range 9000-9999 are usually reserved for government services.

The adoption of a unique MCC for gun and ammunition purchases in California could have an impact on gun safety.

According to a press release from Assemblymember Ting's Office about the new bills, between 2007 and 2018, credit cards were used to finance at least eight major mass shootings.

Financial institutions already train employees to submit Suspicious Activity Reports when they suspect activities are associated with criminal activity, such as human trafficking or fraud, and every currency transaction above $10,000 automatically requires the filing of a Currency Transaction Report with the federal government.

"With firearms now the number one cause of death for U.S. children, we must use every avenue possible to end our gun violence epidemic," explained Assemblymember Ting. "Financial institutions can now be a part of our efforts since they are in a unique position to notice buying patterns that no one else can. When stockpiling of firearms and ammunition appears to take place, alerting authorities can be instrumental in helping California prevent tragedies and save lives."

The other bill set to take effect on Jul. 1 of this year is AB 449 which requires law enforcement agencies across the state to have a hate crimes policy and hate crime response guidelines.

In 2018 , the State Auditor found that hate crimes in the state are both under-reported and misreported due to inadequate or even non-existent reporting policies and procedures.

"It’s ridiculous that some jurisdictions in our state are reporting zero hate crimes," said Assemblymember Ting. "Problems can’t be solved without the true depth and frequency of these incidents. Once we have accurate data, we can use that information to guide us in implementing preventative measures, more services for victims and stronger education programs."

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