Major credit card companies are reclassifying purchases at gun stores and ammunition shops — a change that could pull back the curtain on gun purchases.

Visa, American Express, and Mastercard will start implementing the plan, separating gun and ammunition purchases from other kinds of shopping for the first time. They had previously been classified as general merchandise.

The move comes as gun sales keep climbing.

"The sales have definitely increased over the last several years compared to probably the last five," said Vincent Vasquez, a gun store manager in Arizona.

The FBI reports having done 78,571,988 background checks for gun purchases in the last two years. That's more than in any two-year stretch since record-keeping started in 1998.

Cyndi Starr is among the many buying a firearm for the first time.

"I came to that decision after months of going back and forth," Starr said. "I would never want to ever harm anybody, never, but I've been close enough to certain violent or potentially violent situations that I had that split second where it's like, 'What's my backup?'"

Gun violence prevention activists hope the new classification for credit card purchases will help differentiate people like Starr from those intending to use a gun to harm people, helping banks see and report suspicious activity.

But, of course, not everyone's on board.

Over the weekend, the NRA said the move was about creating a "national registry of gun owners."

The policy is intended only to separately categorize purchases at gun and ammunition stores, not specifically what was purchased. It's a simple label change advocates hope will help curb gun violence.

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According to a NerdWallet report, more Americans are concerned about increasing debt. Culprits of rising debt include credit cards and buy now, pay later offers.

These offers are causing Americans to spend money they do not have.

“Americans are definitely spending more, not because they necessarily want to, but because they have to,” said Sara Rathner, a personal finance expert with Nerd Wallet. “Inflation is driving up the prices of all these things we need to buy every day and that means that more consumers are leaning on their credit cards to make ends meet without necessarily having a plan in place to pay those bills back in full. “

People are most concerned about prices rising faster than income and using credit cards to cover necessities.

Buy now pay later also contributes to debt numbers, as about 20 percent of Americans say they've used the service in the past 12 months.

“There are many consumers who, unfortunately, have not been able to make their payments on time for these plans, and sometimes it can be a result of having multiple buy now, pay later plans going on at the same time,” said Rathner. “That means a lot of money is automatically coming out of your bank account, and you just want to be careful before you enter into these agreements to make sure that you have the money available to make these payments when they're due.”

She says for big purchases, a better approach could be using a credit card with rewards so you can get some of that money back.

But the key is to give yourself time to save so you can make on-time payments.

As Americans continue to feel the cost crunch of inflation, many people are turning to credit card rewards programs to make ends meet.

Research firm Morning Consult found about half of Americans say the rise in inflation and cost of living has made them more interested in earning credit card rewards.

"Among people who have credit card rewards cards, 91% of those people find them useful in everyday purchases," said Clint Henderson, managing editor of The Points Guy, a website that offers resources about rewards cards.

There are various benefits to having a rewards card. They include getting cash back, points and travel miles.

Those benefits can help pay for things like groceries, gas or vacations.

Henderson cautions, though, not everyone should be applying for a rewards credit card right now.

"We always tell people, 'You have got to pay your balance off every month. If you can't do that, then don't bother opening a rewards credit card," he said.

People don't necessarily need a credit card to earn rewards. Some banks offer debit cards that also feature rewards programs.