Can you sell firearms on craigslist

Over the years, the website has become a major destination for firearm buyers and sellers. The site can be used legally, and its terms of use explicitly direct users to follow applicable firearms laws.

Law enforcement faces legal barriers to policing rogue sellers like Caldwell, but the law has also put Armslist itself out of reach. The same legal protections meant to help the internet flourish have also ensured the guns keep flowing. So when does selling guns turn from a hobby into a full-fledged business enterprise? One person might, for example, inherit dozens of antiques and sell them without issue.

But another person might buy a handful of guns from a registered seller, flip them in private sales without conducting background checks, and be deemed engaged in the business. The ambiguity of federal law — and the fact it is rarely enforced — leaves it open to exploitation. And Armslist is home to many sellers whose activity falls in a gray area. The Verge and The Trace scraped more than 2 million Armslist listings from December through March to identify users who may be skirting the law through high-volume sales.

We searched the text of listings for phone numbers and isolated the numbers that appeared most frequently. Armslist encourages users to communicate through direct messages on the website, but some sellers may include direct contact information in their posts.

We identified more than phone numbers that appeared in 10 or more listings. The most used phone number belonged to a seller in South Carolina who was associated with more than listings on Armslist during the period of time covered by our scraping. The user denied posting ads on the site, but confirmed their phone number, which was included as contact information on each ad. Thirty-eight other phone numbers appeared in 50 or more posts on the site.

The Trace and The Verge called every phone number linked to 25 or more listings — nearly in total. We spoke to 10 sellers altogether. None of those sellers said they had a license to deal firearms. Two acknowledged that they used Armslist to turn a profit on sales, while the rest reported using the site primarily to offload firearms in their private collections. But only a handful said they took customers to a licensed firearms dealer to perform a background check before making a sale.

But he wished that there was an easy way to review the history of a potential buyer. However, for every user we spoke with, we confirmed that their phone numbers appeared in multiple non-duplicate posts on the site. To build a case, prosecutors must demonstrate that a person was willfully taking illegal action — that a seller knew what they were doing was wrong and flouted the law anyway. Prosecutors have relied on the volume of online listings as evidence in past cases.

In , a man was convicted of engaging in the business of selling guns without a license, while serving as an FBI agent. United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota Erica MacDonald stifled laughter when asked whether prosecutors might want to scrutinize a seller who had posted hundreds of listings.

Guns are sold online in many ways. There are also online marketplaces, like GunBroker and GunsAmerica, where the websites directly participate in the transaction in some way and allow for firearm transfers to flow through federal license holders.

Then there are places like Armslist that function as an online classified section tailored to guns, and all transactions are done peer to peer. He saw that Craigslist had banned gun listings and thought he could step in to fill the void.

So he connected with his classmate Brian Mancini at a Fourth of July party and they put together a basic version of the site. Someone looking to offload a gun can put up a listing on Armslist in minutes and then simply wait for prospective buyers to reach out.

The process is as easy as buying a chair on Craigslist. Up top, there are pictures of the gun from multiple angles, along with the manufacturer and caliber size. In some cases, sellers will include a personal cell number. Since its founding, Armslist has gone on to become one of the most popular gun advertising websites. The site offers nearly any kind of gun you could imagine. Looking for a pistol? Machine gun and silencer? Rocket launcher?

Armslist users are willing to sell you one. The transfer can take place in a gun store, home, or parking lot. There are no rules on where the handover needs to happen, as long as the timing works for both parties. The process is flexible enough for even the busiest online gun buyer. The business has also become notorious for giving firearm access to people prohibited from owning guns.

It has a search feature, but it is not prominent. You have to scroll past the ads to actually see the brand listings, because the ads are purely local. Similar to Craigslist, once you click a city, the URL changes. For example, I am browsing on fort-worth. TexasGunTrader requires both buyers and sellers to register. Like Armslist, it is free to buy and sell. The advantage of TexasGunTrader over Armslist would be that if your shop is in Texas, you will probably fare better. Hopefully this post has provided you with the information you need to pick at least a couple of channels to use for selling firearms and other hunting or self-defense inventory safely, credibly and profitably online.

Do you have a multi-location local business? Do you have complex inventory management needs and need to synchronize your listings across multiple websites? While GunBroker is compatible with ecomdash and CrossPostIt , it looks like for all of the other channels, you will have to manually manage the listings.

Which of these websites have you used to sell firearms? In your experience, which is the most effective, bringing you the best buyers and highest profits? Stay tuned for our next posts, which will explore how to take amazing photos of your inventory for online sales channels and how to manage your e-commerce sales through a point-of-sale system!

Dick s Sporting Goods already has removed guns and ammunition from its stores, but now the retail giant is taking its split from the industry to another level and removing hunting gear from at least 10 of its stores.

Hey there Becky! Listings can really help online business to get customers. We only need to choose the right directory or listing site to bring more traffic to our website. As Bioguy said, some sites prevent you from listing guns as their personal policy.

I just received a nice new rifle from gunbroker. I will be listing a Howa stainless in and a Weatherby MV Ultralight in soon unless my attachment to them gets the better of me. I'll use gunbroker and gunsamerica for pretty wide coverage. You are required by federal law to ship to a dealer with a Federal Fireams License if you are shipping interstate. Gunbroker has a good definition of the process. Yup, you need a federal license to publicly sell firearms. You also shouldn't be asking us, people you don't know who may or may not be credible.

You need to contact the ATF to keep yourself out of trouble. I mainly bowhunt so the number of times I actually took them afield is limited.. But yeah thanks for all the helpful tips! Jere Smith. Heh Heh,. If is were Me Buck 91 I would consign them to a reputable dealer, he will get you a better deal. Just joked about the worth of the guns. But yeah if anyone is interested let me know and maybe we can work something out! Selling guns online can get very tricky legally because of state to state regulations.

Shipping person to person out of state, such as if you sold it over face book can get you in a mess real quick. I wouldn't advise it at all. Clay Cooper. One of these days, I'm going to place a scope on my M1A.

Shut Moishe, he wasn't joking.