New York Pols to Social Media: Crack Down on Gun Sales

A few New York assembly folks are calling on social media companies like Instagram to crack down on gun sales. This is quite likely an overblown problem, but it’s worth noting that the gun control movement is still pushing the “OMG! People are selling guns on the Internets!” meme. It’s capitalizes on the fact that most people don’t know the law, and reinforces the notion that our gun laws amount to an unregulated wild west. While it is technically legal to ship, via common carrier, to a non-licensee in your own state, practically none of the common carriers will accept firearms that aren’t being shipped by or to an FFL, and the U.S. mail is only an option for FFLs. So really, these are face-to-face transactions at the end of the day.

UPDATE: More on this subject over at the Daily Beat.

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7 thoughts on “New York Pols to Social Media: Crack Down on Gun Sales”

  2. It’s worth noting that a non-licensee can ship long guns through the USPS to other state residents. I’ve done it a few times. You can also do that to out of state residents, if you both have C&R licensee and the long gun is C&R eligible.

    For a good laugh though I have bought guns when I used to work in New York via the internet on NYC ISPs (which of course went to PA FFLs). I can’t wait till I start hearing about the “ISP Loophole”!

  3. This also has the bonus of opening up more puritanical limitations to social media.

    And it has the cultural bonuses of making talking about guns be, definitionally, unseemly.

    Recall that the antis had been going against gun shops and gun shows before the internet back when those were some of the few areas where the gun culture could meet.

    Its also handy for them that their position depends on mutual ignorance.

  4. I read about this over the last week or two. It’s been the latest target of the drunken gun control rampage. I hope the next step is that the antis start pushing for social media permit requirements to be able to converse. That would be just dandy.

  5. I have in recent years UPS shipped a malfunctioning handgun back to the factory, and had it UPS’ed straight back to me by the factory, which is in another state.

    While they undoubtedly have an FFL, I don’t. However, presumably this is a common way to get guns repaired, so it must be legal, right?

    1. Yes. Shipping from a non-licensee to an FFL is legal. I believe the only thing the GCA outlawed was interstate shipping from one non-licensee to another non-licensee. USPS only allows guns to be shipped from one FFL to another.

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