# New Gun Control Bill Encourages Financial Institutions to Report 'Suspicious' Firearm Transactions



## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

A new gun control bill calls for banks and credit card companies to track and provide transaction data to the feds on some firearm purchases as a way of tracking people who the government suspects might be planning mass shootings.

Rep. Jennifer Wexton's (D-Va.) "Gun Violence Prevention Through Financial Intelligence Act" would require the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to "request information from financial institutions for the purpose of developing an advisory about the identification and reporting of suspicious activity."

https://reason.com/2019/11/20/new-g...ns-to-report-suspicious-firearm-transactions/


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## RayVa (Jan 30, 2019)

This is my rep. I am sorry to see this.

RayC


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Sounds like a Homeland Security measure. 
I wouldn't want the Angry Socialists to start buying in bulk.


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## Airma (Aug 27, 2019)

pic said:


> Sounds like a Homeland Security measure.
> I wouldn't want the Angry Socialists to start buying in bulk.


+1


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## AirForceShooter (May 6, 2006)

How does the bank or CC company know what was sold in the transaction?
All they know is the amount.

AFS


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

AirForceShooter said:


> How does the bank or CC company know what was sold in the transaction?
> All they know is the amount.
> 
> AFS


They have the name of the vendor on the transaction record. It's also on your monthly statement. Bank's and CC companies need and use this information in case of fraudulent claims to your account. We as consumers also need this information so we can check our statements for any suspicious activity.

The way around all of this is to use cash. But I don't understand how they can use this information to determine who the next mass shooter will be? As anyone who does a lot of shooting would know it's easy to go through a lot of ammo in just one outing.

I wonder if they will extend this to any and all materials that could be used to make a bomb or incendiary devise?

Besides the sale of two or more handguns and some rifles from a licensed dealer to one individual at one time has to be reported to the BATF.

But what if someone buys one handgun or rifle from one dealer on Monday and then goes to another on Tuesday and then buys another? Then does same for the rest of the week?


*Fact Sheet - Multiple Firearms Sales | Bureau of Alcohol ...*
www.atf.gov/.../fact-sheet-multiple-firearms-sales
The Gun Control Act of 1968 requires federal firearms licensees to report multiple sales or other dispositions of handguns to the same purchaser. The sale or disposition of two or more handguns must be reported if they occur at the same time or within five consecutive business days of each other.

"The reporting requirements mandate that all federally licensed firearms dealers and pawnbrokers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, submit to ATF reports of multiple sales or other dispositions of certain rifles to unlicensed individuals when two or more particular kinds of rifles are transferred at the same time or within five consecutive business days of each other. The types of rifles that must be reported are those with the following characteristics: semiautomatic, a caliber greater than .22 (including .223 or 5.56 mm), and the ability to accept detachable magazines."


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## AirForceShooter (May 6, 2006)

My point was that while there's a financial record of the purchase there's no indication on transaction data sent to the bank of CC card of WHAT was bought.

The ATF reporting is separate from the proposed legislation.

AFS


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

AirForceShooter said:


> My point was that while there's a financial record of the purchase there's no indication on transaction data sent to the bank of CC card of WHAT was bought.
> 
> The ATF reporting is separate from the proposed legislation.
> 
> AFS


Once the bank or financial institution reported to the ATF that you purchased merchandise from a gun store. All the ATF would have to do is contact the store and demand that they turn over their records for sales on the day that you made the purchase. They'd know that you purchased a firearm if you filled out Form 4473. They could even find out if you purchased large quantities of ammo or reloading components.

As long as you use a credit or debit card there will always be a record of when, where and what you bought. Investigators could easily find out from the store what time the purchases were made and exactly what was purchased. Those same methods are often used to track down fugitives or solve crimes.

My point about the ATF reporting was that the law is already in place to report the sales of multiple firearms to one individual. It's beyond me what this proposed new legislation would accomplish?

It certainly would not affect private sales or illegal gun trafficking. Nor would it affect any cash transactions. At least if you use cash the ATF would have no way of knowing who bought what as your name is not on cash.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

It's all about people running scared, in circles, not knowing what to do to solve a perceived problem (which, mostly, doesn't exist).
They're "grasping at straws." They're trying to do something...anything...to make the perceived problem go away.
Reality and practicality are absent from their thinking, and from their doing as well.

Practical solutions can't be applied, because they are perceived as being not-Politically-Correct.
Thus the running in circles.

"When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." —USMC boot-camp dictum
.


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## yellowtr (Oct 28, 2016)

Funny thing is by the time the bureaucracy got around to going through all the wickets the crime would be over if that was the intent of the buyer. The red flags were all over the place in the 2 Florida shootings, Orlando and the high school. Many other high profile shooters were on the "radar" of the FBI and other law agencies. And what if the firearm was purchased with cash? Or or an illegal purchase? or stolen like with the Connecticut school shooting? This law is just a feel good law that says we are doing something.


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## PhuBai70 (Sep 26, 2019)

Monitoring personal financial reports is not necessary in California. The authorities already have access to all of the information they need. The California DOJ maintains permanent records of every firearm transaction in the state that includes all of the information on the purchaser (including a right thumb print) and all of the information on the firearm. Dealers are also required to maintain a firearms transaction record and this record must be made available to law enforcement. 
Oh, and since ammunition purchases require a background check the state now has a record of how much and what type of ammo you buy.


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## RK3369 (Aug 12, 2013)

Yup, that system works as well as calling 911. It won’t prevent anything. But then, the real end game is confiscation, and you can’t confiscate what you can’t find.


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