individual stores can have a policy that prohibits it but there's no law against it. it's done ALLOT at the local safeway to me-parents drop their kids off for college and think by buying them a safeway gift card they are ensuring the kids don't blow all their money at the local bars but as soon as the parents go back home the kids turn around and use the safeway cards to buy visa or amex gift cards which the bars are happy to accept (it was even more prevalent when we only had state run liquor stores-safeway saw the majority of their gift cards used to purchase visa gift cards at the state run liquor store that was located next door).