Well this makes sense:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) on Monday called on Instagram to stop its users from illegally selling firearms using the popular social media site, according to The Hill.
“A growing number of Instagram’s users are conducting unregulated gun sales through Instagram’s widespread mobile and Internet application,” Markey wrote in a letter to the company Monday.
Markey cited a report in the Daily Beast that found that firearm sales using Instagram are on the rise. - TPM, 11/4/13
Here's the backstory:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...
Users of Instagram, which has no explicit policy prohibiting the sale of firearms, can easily find a chrome-plated antique Colt, a custom MK12-inspired AR-15 tricked-out with “all best of the best parts possible,” and an HK416D .22LR rifle by simply combining terms like #rifle or #ar15 with #forsale. These are handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, and everything in between being sold in an open, pseudo-anonymous online marketplace. With no federal law banning online sales and differing, loophole-ridden state laws, many gun control advocates are concerned about the public safety consequences of this unregulated market.
A typical gun-toting Instagram post goes something like this: “‘LWRC 10’ SBR FOR SALE!!! Come get it! Includes AAC suppressor tip, ergo grip, 3 magpul pmags, 2 40 round mags, bungee sling, and about 500 rounds of .556. Message me if interested."
The negotiation then unfolds in the comments.
"Great setup," a user says, indicating his or her interest. "Asking $3000 for everything," the seller replies. "I'm really trying to get a package deal. Don't need want to part it all out."
From there, the conversation leaves Instagram’s public-facing comments, and commences over more private channels, such as through email or a phone call, where background checks, license verifications, and age confirmations are left to the whims of the seller.
Not being a commerce site like, say, Craigslist, which has a policy prohibiting the sale of firearms, Instagram has no stated policy against gun sales. It isn’t in the business of monitoring every user-to-user conversation on its platform. Without demonstrating a clear intent to harm, or otherwise attracting the attention of the site’s community moderators, the posts are permitted to stay. Plus, while the laws around online gun sales are complicated, Instagram users trying to sell their guns really aren’t doing anything illegal.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) authority doesn’t extend to the private sale of guns between private persons, which are largely permitted by law (as long as said persons aren’t making transactions on a regular basis). The ATF encourages the involved parties to finalize the sale through a licensed gun dealer who can run a background check, but whether or not this step is required depends on the state. While individuals are largely permitted to freely sell guns to other private citizens within their state, it is a crime to sell a firearm to any individual known to be prohibited from possessing such items (such as convicts, fugitives, and drug addicts). Federal law also prohibits so called “straw purchases,” when a buyer is purchasing the firearm from a federal firearms license holder for somebody else—as long as it isn’t a bona fide gift. - The Daily Beast, 10/22/13
Markey has some serious concerns about this:
http://thehill.com/...
Markey said he is concerned that “a significant number of unlawful sales of firearms may be occurring through Instagram’s mobile and online services.”
Markey noted the ability of Instagram users to remain anonymous and find gun sales through “an array of ever-expanding search terms” such as #gunsforsale, #gunstore and #guns_of_instagram.
Instagram users can “publicize products widely without registering as a seller or otherwise disclosing his or her identity” and then conclude sales offline, Markey wrote.
As a result, some sales could violate state and federal laws, such as selling “to those under 18 years old, to out of state buyers by sellers in states that have prohibitions on interstate sales or firearms, or by sellers who are declining to conduct background checks” when required, he said. - The Hill, 11/4/13
Glad he's on top of this. Also, Markey's working on this:
http://thehill.com/...
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has filed a bill to require the Federal Aviation Administration to insert privacy protections in its examination into the possibility of allowing drones to be flown in commercial airspace.
The FAA has been studying the possibility of allowing non-military uses of drones, which has been sought by police departments and other legal officials.
Markey said Monday that his bill, which has been dubbed the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, would require the FAA to make sure that drone uses had warrants before they conducted any surveillance.
"Before countless commercial drones begin to fly overhead, we must ground their operation in strong rules to protect privacy and promote transparency,” Markey said in a statement.
“My drone privacy legislation requires transparency on the domestic use of drones and adds privacy protections that ensure this technology cannot and will not be used to spy on Americans," he continued. "I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on this bipartisan issue to ensure that strong personal privacy protections and public transparency measures are put in place now.” - The Hill, 11/4/13
If you would like more info about Markey's legislation, you can contact his office here:
(202) 224-2742
http://www.markey.senate.gov/...
And if you would like to thank Markey for standing up for common sense gun control and protecting citizens privacy, please do donate to his 2014 re-election bid:
http://www.edmarkey.com/