Facebook rules on illegal gun sales ‘not enough’

Two influential gun control groups in the US are negotiating for a ban on firearms sales via the Facebook and Instagram social network sites.

Facebook’s lawyers are in talks with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, which was formed after the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an organisation consisting of the mayors of more 1,100 cities.
The mothers’ group is backing the campaign with a petition, now with nearly 100,000 signatures, addressed to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Kevin Systrom, chief executive of Instagram.

Erika Soto Lamb, who represents the mayors’ organisation, said: “Facebook and Instagram are enabling people to sell weapons, often with no questions asked and no background checks required.”

The petition from the mothers’ group reads: “Your platforms unfortunately allow users to buy, sell and trade firearms without requiring criminal background checks.

“Other online platforms, including Craigslist, eBay and Google+, have already prohibited these sales. I ask that you put an end to this completely unregulated social media gun show and prohibit gun sales from your platforms immediately.”
Shannon Watts, who founded the group, persuaded Starbucks to prohibit guns in its coffee bars last year and is putting pressure on the office supply chain Staples to introduce a ban in its stores.

The campaigners highlight a case in which a 21-year-old from Storm Lake, Iowa, tried to exchange an assault rifle for a handgun through Facebook. The other party was an undercover policeman and the man was arrested and jailed.
US law enforcement agencies say they consider the social media platforms as “emerging threats for unlawful gun transactions”.