Is it legal to sell guns using Instagram?

ByAndrew Kitzmiller

An application that can process and share imagesInstagramNot only do you simply browse the photos, they are also used as a shopping tool to post photos of products themselves and recruit buyers, so you can easily search items in InstagramHashbagThere is also a flea market service called, but the problem in gun sales is the problem of gun sales.

People Are Using Instagram to Sell Their Guns ... and It's Mostly Legal - The Daily Beast
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/22/people-are-using-instagram-to-sell-their-guns-and-it-s-mostly-legal.html


Instagram does not specify to prohibit the sale of firearms, firearms are generally sold by professional dealers who perform individuals, advertisements, negotiations and sales. Firearms can be easily found by anyone by searching for tags such as "#rifle" "# ar15" "# forsale", and antiqueColt · Fire ArmsPistol made and customizedSPR Mk 12,Heckler & amp; KK HK 416You can purchase etc. The types range from short guns, shotguns, to rifles for attack.

A typical form of gun sales at Instagram is this. First, the seller sends "LWRCWe are selling our guns! AAC suppressorErgo Grip, MagpulPMAG, Bungee sling, with shell, please send me a message if you are interested! It is! It is! I put the sentence saying. Then the deal expands in comments, the user says "It's a wonderful setup" and the seller replies "How about with 3000 dollars in all (about 300,000 yen)". From there it is not a negotiation table, but a personal exchange such as e-mail and phone, personal confirmation will be influenced by the mood of the seller.


Federal law in the United States does not regulate on-line firearms sale, and what is prohibited by individual buying and selling is when buyers purchase firearms from Federal firearm license holders. Also, unlike existing product sales sites Instagram has not stated about the sale of firearms nor does it monitor the user's interaction. Since it is not a remark that intends to hurt other people, posting photos is not contrary to policies, and even in light of the laws on online gun selling, which is very complicated, the sale of firearms between users is completely It is legal.Alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives control officeIs not adapted for the purchase and sale of guns between individuals and there is no problem unless selling guns to prisoners, exiles or drug addicts. In other words, no matter how much we argue, even though we are worried about gun control advocates, the current situation is that laws do not prohibit or manage firearms between individuals.

There were concerns about this, and some provinces have turned out to allow guns to be sold and require surveys and records for trading. Regardless of how lawfully cracked down by state law is legal under Federal law,Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013At the federal level, there was a move to rectify loopholes concerning the sale and purchase of firearms between individuals, but Congress rejected it and President Obama said "It's a shameful day for Washington"I commented.

Allison Price, a spokesperson of the Department of Justice, said, "There is no law in the federal law prohibiting the sale of firearms on the Internet, unlicensed sellers selling firearms using social applications No check · It is a new technique to sell guns anonymously.It is necessary to investigate more universal seller's features in this loopholes. "

ByAlexandre Gloria

According to a survey by New York City in 2011, 62% of individuals selling guns on the Internet have agreed with buyers saying "There is no problem without searching for features." Also, despite the policies of many product selling sites regulating the sale of guns, 82% of purchasers seem to have illegally interchanged. The report says, "The selling site that is permitting the guns to buy and sell should prompt the transparency of the seller and the buyer, promote reporting suspicious interactions to other users, and delete those that are prohibited," I am recommending it.

Returning to the story of Instagram, Instagram has a strong belief in "freedom", and users are asked to disclose their first name, and the style that observers observe laws and monitor themselves is the community. Mike who actually sells guns at Instagram says, "I investigate the law every time I sell things, because I only search on Google.Because I only spend $ 10 (about 1000 yen) to live my life for 10 years I do not want to go to Hui for 20 years and I do not want to lose the right to vote, and most importantly, not story of money, I will strictly observe the rules. " Also, similarlyAR-15 pistolDanny selling Danny says, "I am a responsible owner dealing with firearms, I will not handle illegal guns either because I am not caught up by people who are not, or personal sales."

However, while there is a seller who wishes to obey the law, there are also people who are not. In August 2013, a rapper who was selling guns on Instagram and YouTube was arrested on the biggest accusation of fire in New York City history. Bridget Brennan, a special narcotic prosecutor, says, "That was ridiculously ridiculous." "They have no idea of ​​the violence or confusion of what they are doing but it is for money because the weakness of the federal or state level gun control laws is that citizen's The impact on safe living is getting bigger. "

The penetration of the Internet has caused new problems and criminal techniques that have not been seen to increase, but the sales of guns in Instagram are one of them.CEO of Starbucks expresses his opinion that "I want you to keep guns and firearms from bringing to Starbucks" on their blogAs I said, there are views that not only state and federal law levels should be handled by the service provider, but in instagram dealing with "photographs", line drawing becomes complicated, regulating gun handling It looks difficult.

ByJohn Fischer