Facebook, though considered to be a private enterprise with the watchful eye of government behind it through the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, was a place where gun owners could set up private sales between each other.  Sometimes the sales took place in the same state where there was not necessarily a need for a background check or registration, but where there would normally be a concealed weapons permit showed to indicate the individual was legal to purchase a weapon.  Sometimes the sale would take place at a FFL due to the fact a background check was required.  However, Facebook is now changing its policies (I know, big surprise, right?) and will now not allow the private sale of guns on its site nor that of Instagram, which it also owns.

The New York Times reports:

Facebook said it would rely on its vast network of users to report any violations of the new rules, and would remove any post that violated the policy. Beyond that, the company said it could ban users or severely limit the ways they post on Facebook, depending on the type and severity of past violations. If the company believed someone’s life was in danger, Facebook would work with law enforcement on the situation.

The problem is that there are no “actual” gun sales that take place on Facebook or Instagram.  The sales occur off site.  One wonders how long it will be till my friend Andre De Villiers will no longer be able to post pictures of the gorgeous knives he creates for sale.

WRAL adds:

It comes after gun control groups have long complained that Facebook and other online sites are frequently used by unlicensed sellers and buyers not legally eligible to buy firearms.

Facebook “was unfortunately and unwittingly serving as an online platform for dangerous people to get guns,” said Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a group that launched a public campaign to convince the social network to change its policies two years ago.

Watts said her group has found numerous cases of felons and minors who were able to buy guns on the site, including two cases in which the buyers used the guns to slay others. Representatives of two gun-owner rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ah, so good old useful, lying idiot Shannon Watts is involved in the matter.  I thought she was a mother.  Where I come from mothers tend to their children and their homes (Titus 2:3-4), not be a bunch of busybodies out in the street like Ms. Watts.

“They were very, very open to our thoughts on policy and to the research we have been compiling,” Watts said. “I think they definitely saw this was an issue, but an incredibly complicated issue. I think that’s why it’s taken two years.”

“Over the last two years, more and more people have been using Facebook to discover products and to buy and sell things to one another,” Monika Bickert, who oversees Facebook product policies, said in a statement. “We are continuing to develop, test, and launch new products to make this experience even better for people and are updating our regulated goods policies to reflect this evolution.”

Evolution?  You mean quash the free market, right?  You mean make people feel hoplophobic, right?

There has never been a private sale of a firearm that has taken place through Facebook. Every sale of a firearm has been through either an FFL or a private transaction away from Facebook.

Facebook also received praise from the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

“It is simply too easy for virtually anyone to buy any gun they want online without a Brady background check,” said the group’s president, Dan Gross. “Facebook just took an important step in addressing that challenge and we call on others to follow suit.”

This is an absolute lie!  It is not easy to get a gun online without a background check!  All you gun grabbers who claim this, shoot a video.  Order a gun from online and see if you don’t have to go through a background check or provide a Concealed Weapons Permit (which you’ve already been put through a background check for) before you take possession of your purchased firearm!  I’ll guarantee that no person who takes me up on my offer can provide proof they obtain a firearm without one or the other.

I’m sure the Islamic Society of North America are also happy about this since they support the Brady Campaign in their assault on the Second Amendment.

While Facebook offers great opportunities for business and family and friends to connect, it’s been politically correct for a long time.  This is just the latest shoe to drop.