The state of New York thinks it can keep and eye on gun purchases by requiring Merchant Category Codes for gun stores. While many states have passed laws to block their use, New York wants to mandate them.

A lot of times, I’d start going into the theory behind the law. It never works as advertised, but I can at least understand why people might think it would.

In this case, the only theory involved is my theory that everyone who voted for this is a functional moron.

And the NSSF is firing back at the law, including giving the reason why I say that.

The MCC scheme Gov. Hochul celebrated won’t do anything to reduce crime in New York. Don’t just take the word of the firearm industry – though there’s plenty to support our concerns – but listen to the credit card companies and the banks. Even some media cast doubt on the effectiveness of the firearm MCC.

Bloomberg News reported after the Sorkin-Sims Brown discussion that the code would have little meaning.

“The payment network and its banking partners would have no idea if a gun-store customer is purchasing a [firearm] or safety equipment,” Bloomberg News reported.

Sims Brown, Sorkin and now Gov. Hochul all suggest they can flag “suspicious” purchasing behavior, but the banks haven’t defined what that would even mean. They say a particular “suspicious” purchase would prompt a bank to file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Does a single low-cost purchase, like a single box of ammunition, count? What about buying several boxes of shotgun shells to go with a new shotgun, waders, decoys and a hunting license at a local retailer? The entire purchase would be flagged with the MCC. Visa CEO Al Kelly even stated this scenario while casting doubt on the MCC idea.

While the MCC code was being considered, Kelly admitted flat out the code doesn’t work as gun control activists dream it would. “If [Visa’s Chief Communications Officer] K.C. Kavanagh goes into a gun store and buys three thermoses and a tent, and you go in and buy a rifle and five rounds of ammunition, all I know is you both went to the same gun store… But I don’t know what you bought.”

That right there is the problem.

New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin floated an idea and Amalgamated Bank President and CEO Priscilla Sims Brown ran with it, but neither have apparently ever set foot inside of an actual gun store.

See, there’s not a single one I’ve ever been in that doesn’t sell more than guns and ammunition. I’m sure there’s one or two out there that do, but most sell a lot more things. Usually, it’s outdoor equipment such as fishing, hunting, and/or camping gear.

Other stores sell guns, but more as an add-on to their outdoor products. Think of somewhere like Cabella’s or Bass Pro Shops.

Or, you know, Walmart.

MCC data doesn’t give anyone a peek inside of the shopping bag, which means a lot of people who have never bought a gun in their lives may well get flagged for supposedly suspicious purchases because they decided to take their family camping.

So while I try to at least understand where the other side is coming from, on this one, that’s pretty obvious. They’re coming from a place of absolute ignorance about the stores they’re trying to regulate.