# H.R. 1181 (119th): Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act

Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act This bill prohibits payment card networks from using merchant codes that distinguish firearms retailers from general-merchandise retailers or sporting-goods retailers. The Department of Justice must enforce this bill and report annually on the resulting investigations and cases.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: civil_liberties. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: doj_enforcement. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: financial_privacy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: firearms_commerce. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: privacy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 239: On Motion to Recommit. Vote type: recommit.
Roll 240: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill restrains a plausible intrusion into lawful purchasing by discouraging categorization that singles out firearms buyers, which aligns with privacy and equitable treatment of lawful commerce. However, the effects on arms access are indirect, the operative text is limited to merchant codes, and the DOJ enforcement and reporting role raises ordinary prudential questions about administration. These mixed features do not warrant a hard moral verdict in either direction.
Theological note: The measure bears on the protection of private lawful purchases and on the restraint of commercial or institutional profiling of lawful conduct, which Scripture's concern for justice and for the dignity of ordinary citizens makes relevant. It also touches on the lawful exercise of arms and self-defense, a matter where Reformed ethics generally treats policy design as prudential rather than as a direct moral verdict. The enforcement and reporting mechanism raises a secondary question of government proportion in how the prohibition is administered.

## Recorded votes

Roll 239: On Motion to Recommit. Yea 208 · Nay 217 · Other 6.
Roll 240: On Passage. Yea 221 · Nay 201 · Other 9.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-1181-119/