New York CNN —Two dozen Republican attorneys general warned Visa, American Express and MasterCard on Tuesday not to go ahead with their plans to add a new merchant category code for gun retailers. In a letter to the CEOs of the card giants, the officials expressed serious concern that adopting a new sales code for gun stores would harm the constitutional rights of gunowners and potentially violate consumer protection and antitrust laws. Previously, gun store sales were classified under a general merchandise or sporting goods category. In other words, legal gun purchases won’t be blocked by this new merchant category code, or MCC. “We do not believe private companies should serve as moral arbiters,” Visa said in a blog post last week.

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