If you’re like the millions of people who make a purchase on eBay throughout the year, you probably are of the opinion that you can literally purchase anything on the worldwide online yard sale.
Missing a piece from a random 10-year old vacuum cleaner? eBay. Clippings of Justin Bieber’s hair? Lunch with Warren Buffet? These are all some of the crazy items that you can purchase on eBay on a daily basis. Unfortunately, one of the few things that you absolutely cannot purchase is parts for your assault rifle.
Banning AR’s
According to company representatives, eBay has been actively removing the accounts of sellers who are engaged in commerce around assault rifles, claiming that they violate eBay’s firearms policy.
This particular edict prohibits buyers from acquiring accessories or parts for assault weapons. With the volume of stores that are cropping up on a daily basis around the eCommerce giant, it’s becoming tougher to limit these sales, especially as shopkeepers are becoming increasingly wily about selling their wares.
Recently, several buyers have found that their stores have been closed and their accounts suspended after repeatedly selling the weapon parts in direct violation of the strict policy. User and privacy agreements have blocked eBay from responding to requests for more information.
Avoiding Filters
It seems that eBay is generally friendly to gun parts proprietors, as there is a significant volume of parts being sold on a regular basis. The recent banning of a single user is not necessarily a trend, but rather more the work of alt-left groups who are focused on restricting the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.
Some sellers are able to successfully fly under the radar of the online selling giant by avoiding keywords that are likely to be flagged by automated searches by site administrators.
Permitted Parts and Accessories
While assault rifle parts are strictly banned and entire weapons cannot be sold on eBay, the sale of gun parts and knives are thriving on this internet hub for buyers and sellers. Another interesting tidbit is that weapons can only be sold domestically — items cannot be listed outside the U.S. eBay site or they violate eBay’s selling policy.
Only domestic shipping is prevented, too, another safety measure to keep guns and gun parts within the country’s borders. There are even strict laws around imitation firearms or replica guns, as they must be clearly marked with a blaze orange barrel plug.
Even with these stringent requirements, it’s difficult if not impossible for eBay to completely police their own listings. They rely on others to flag accounts or listings that are believed to violate their rules and regulations for weapons and other restricted products.
It remains to be seen whether or not eBay will tighten their policies in relation to recent media coverage of gun violence, or whether the California-based tech giant will continue to allow Americans the right to sell weapons and weapon parts in the open market.
~ Firearm Daily
