I am not aware of any states where you cannot buy non-reloadable visa gift cards with cash at values up to $500. Reloadable ones are the ones that often require KYC.
I do this all the time in California and have in other states as well.
If you are sure your state bans non-reloadable visa gift card purchases with cash I would love to find out what state to research what is going on there.
I think check into Illinois and New York. As far as I know it’s not possible to acquire visa gift cards (non-reloadable) for even $100 without activation which results in implicit linking to some identity.
I do this all the time in California and have in other states as well.
If you are sure your state bans non-reloadable visa gift card purchases with cash I would love to find out what state to research what is going on there.