eBay Halts Sale of Gun Parts
Virginia Tech Shooter Shopped on Auction Site
The discovery that Seung-Hui Cho may may have purchased gun parts at auction has eBay revising its firearms policies.
Ban Effective 13 August
Effective today (August 13th 2007) eBay is banning the sale of all gun parts, including any part required for the firing of a weapon such as bullet tips, brass casings and shells, slides, barrels, cylinders, firing pins, magazines, trigger assemblies and the like. This ban is the result of information indicating Seung-Hui Cho, the mentally unbalanced Virginia Tech student who shot 33 including himself and wounded at least 10 others, shopped on eBay for the extra clips he may have used in the rampage last April.
Statement from Matt Halprin, eBay VP
Matt Halprin, eBay Vice President of Trust and Safety, posted the following statement on July 30th on the General Announcements page: “. . .In mid-August, we will be updating our Firearms, Weapons and Knives Policy to place more restrictions around gun-related items. Once these changes take effect, we will prohibit listings of any firearm parts required in the firing of a gun. . . eBay does not allow the listing of any items which are regulated by individual states or the federal government, however there are still a large number of firearm-related parts that are legal and widely available in retail stores. These items have also historically been allowed on eBay. After learning that some items purchased on eBay may have been used in the tragedy at Virginia Tech in April 2007, we felt that revisiting our policies was not only necessary, but the right thing to do.”
Ebay records indicate that Cho may have purchased a pair of ten round magazines for the Walther p22 used in the shootings. “It’s apparent that he purchased empty magazine clips,” said the Associated Press, quoting eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy, who noted that the parts Cho purchased on eBay could have been bought at any sporting goods store anywhere in the US. Asked if the gun parts ban was the result of lawsuits filed by victim’s families against the auction site, eBay spokesperson Cathy England said that no lawsuits have been filed.
Gun Merchants and the NRA Speak up
Not surprisingly, the response from gun collectors, dealers and bloggers has been uniformly negative. On any given day, eBay listings offered over 33,000 assorted gun parts and accessories. Dealers are quick to cite the Second Amendment, claiming that the right to bear arms includes the right to buy and sell the legal parts needed to fire them. However, since eBay’s 1999 ban on the sale of guns, websites for gun sales such as Gunbroker, GunsAmerica, AutionArms, A-Gun, AntiqueGuns, and SoldUSA have prospered. These sites seem to see eBay’s loss as their gain, and are urging their potential buyers and sellers to close down their eBay accounts.
The National Rifle Association stated on their website that, “With this action, eBay sends the message that they don’t want or appreciate law abiding gun owners’ business. By banning these legal products, eBay is adopting the anti-gun movement’s opposition to all legal gun ownership.”
Source:
Antique Week volume 39 Issue 1989 August 13, 2007
