Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. have decided to pause implementing a plan that activists had hoped would track firearm sales and help curb gun violence.

The payments giants — along with Discover Financial Services — are delaying the work after a series of bills in state legislatures targeted the International Organization for Standardization’s new merchant category code. The MCC was created to be used when processing transactions for gun and ammunition stores.

[I don’t think these credit card providers were all too keen on this idea in the first place. They got bullied into a dumb policy, and the unexpected backlash has had an impact, while all along they insisted that this kind of system was unnecessary and likely inaccurate. I’m not surprised to see a “pause.” — Ed]