The gun market is booming on Instagram.
The popular photo-posting app – bought last year by Facebook for $1 billion – has become the go-to place for folks looking to buy and sell firearms on the Internet, boasting a web of private owners and professional dealers with shotguns, handguns and assault rifles for sale on the open market, according to a report by The Daily Beast.
Instagram is not an e-commerce site, and has no stated policy barring firearm sales.
Users of the app can readily 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 combing search words and hashtags, like #rifle, #ar15 or #forsalegun, the report noted.
“LWRC 10’ SBR FOR SALE!!! Come get it!” reads one recently-posted Instagram ad. “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.”
Potential deals are openly discussed in the Instagram comments section.
“Great setup,” a presumably interested user responds.
“Asking $3,000 for everything,” the seller writes back. “I’m really trying to get a package deal. Don’t need want to part it all out.”
Transactions then move from the public comments arena to private conversations via email and phone.
And the deals aren’t illegal.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has no authority on gun sales between private parties, and different states have different rules when it comes to buying firearms.
“There is no federal law prohibiting sales of firearms over the internet,” a Dept. of Justice spokeswoman told the Daily Beast.
“And the ready availability of firearms through social applications presents yet another avenue for unlicensed sellers to transfer guns anonymously and without background checks.
“This loophole underscores the need for a universal background check requirement, so we can keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and other persons prohibited from having them.”
Instagram users told the Daily Beast said they make an effort to follow local gun sales laws when buying or selling via the social networking site.
“Every time I do a sale I look up the actual law,” said Mike, a self-described gun collector and enthusiast who has sold firearms on Instagram. “I just Google it.”
“I can’t really speak for everyone, but for myself personally it’s not worth making $10 to spend 10, 20-years-to-life, and lose my voting rights, most importantly” he says. “No amount of money is worth it. When it comes to that, I play strictly by the book.”
Brooklyn rapper Matthew “Neno” Best didn’t play by the rules.
The little-known singer bragged on Instagram about selling weapons out of his Ocean Hill studio – posting photos of guns and large stashes of cash – leading to an NYPD probe that in August resulted in the largest gun bust in city history, netting 254 firearms and resulting in 19 indictments.