Inside Armslist, a peer-to-peer market for gun sales

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Inside Armslist, a peer-to-peer market for gun sales
You’ve probably read about how a handful of the world’s highest-profile retailers have started to limit the sale ofgunsandammoin their stores.

But did you know there’s an online bazaar where private sellers hawk them, Craigslist-style?

LetThe VergeandThe Traceintroduce you toArmslist. Their eye-openingstoryabout the site’s rise is relevant for anyone who cares about gun violence, and the ways information and consumer goods move online.

A quick breakdown
First, some essentials:

  • The site’s creators saw opportunity in Craigslist’s ban on gun listings
  • It is possible to sell on the site legally -- though many sales occupy questionable territory
  • That’s because sellers are required to run background checks only when they’re “engaged in the business” of selling guns...
  • … and separating the hobbyists from the small-time entrepreneurs isn’t easy
As you might expect, Armslist is deeply controversial. Law-enforcement authorities have linked guns recovered at crime scenes to people who’ve used it to peddle dozens of firearms.

1 key detail:The site’s legal-defense strategy is ripped right from the playbook of some Silicon Valley titans. Its lawyers invoke Section 230 of a law called the Communications Decency Act.

  • That’s what protects internet companies from being held liable for information published by their users
  • So the debate over the site’s fate is bigger than just guns
As the story’s authors, Colin Lecher and Sean Campbell, put it: “Seen from one angle, the battle over Armslist looks like a microcosm of the larger war over Silicon Valley power and accountability.”
 
Malarkey. (To be polite.)

Armslist is only "controversial" to those who deem firearms and the Natural Law rights to unmolested Life, Liberty, and Property to be controversial.

Blaming Armslist (or firearms sales in general) for the fact that firearms may be used in criminal acts is like blaming craigslist or J.D.Byrider{?} for the automobile used in the getaway. Oh, and let's blame Michelin and Goodyear while we're at it. Oh, and Sunoco, et. al. And Hell, Levis and Nike and McDonald's, too.

Idiots.

("Hey, uh, isn't this a lot like blaming Interactive Brokers or Robinhood or 'T/A' for trading losses?" Well, yes it is, Junior. Yes it is.)
 
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tommcginnis said:
Blaming Armslist (or firearms sales in general) for the fact that firearms may be used in criminal acts is like blaming craigslist or J.D.Byrider{?} for the automobile used in the getaway. Oh, and let's blame Michelin and Goodyear while we're at it. Oh, and Sunoco, et. al. And Hell, Levis and Nike and McDonald's, too.

Idiots.
More...

Vehicles are almost never used to deliberately kill people. Weapons are almost exclusively used to kill, wound or threaten people. Your analogy is terrible.
 
Guns have a hell of a lot to do with those that are killed or injured by them. The states with the highest gun ownership has the most deaths from guns, both murders & suicides.

We already have more guns than people. Who wants paroles, kids, & the mentally ill to have easy access to guns? No sane person would but the NRA sure would.

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d08 said:
Vehicles are almost never used to deliberately kill people. Weapons are almost exclusively used to kill, wound or threaten people. Your analogy is terrible.
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Hardly.
• Vehicles being used to kill people is much more standard practice around the world than in the USA -- but it's usually in multiples like 10x-100x, whereas the USA mode is in singles -- hence the seeming surfeit of murder-by-motor-vehicle.
• Weapons are used for what weapons do -- kill, wound, or threaten. Your observation of the obvious suggests you've never had reason, nor see any reason, to use a firearm pursuant to a Natural Law right to Life, Liberty, or Property yourself. It's great that you've lived this sheltered life, until you try to paint that onto others (who wish to recognize Natural Law and the inalienable Rights thereof).

comagnum said:
Guns have a hell of a lot to do with those that are killed or injured by them. The states with the highest gun ownership has the most deaths from guns.
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• Stunning conclusion! I'll not have to research that similar observation about automobiles -- that states with greater proportion of motor vehicle ownership have higher death rates due to motor vehicles, eh? Maybe we should pose the question with regard to elevators! And those states with the highest number of elevators tied with the highest number of bizarre & deadly elevator accidents -- they should all have their elevators shut down immediately. Hazard! Those states are also heavily agricultural and below-average household income. We should ban farms, tractors and poverty, and watch the death rates fall.
• But in the meantime, after a deep breath and the sweat-shivers have subsided, maybe we can figure out that the maps you show are useless, as they lump murder, suicide, and negligent discharge into one bloody bucket.
• And nowhere do your maps (or anybody's maps) show the silent, everyday, non-headline-grabbing outcomes from people exercising self-protection via a firearm. We haven't figured out how to get around that one.
 
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tommcginnis said:
Your observation of the obvious suggests you've never had reason, no see any reason, to use a firearm pursuant to a Natural Law right to Life, Liberty, or Property yourself. It's great that you've lived this sheltered life, until you try to paint that on others (who wish to recognize Natural Law and the inalienable Rights thereof).
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I've physically defended my property multiple times. I've been held at knife-point and chased thieves. I don't need a gun to do that. In fact I'm grateful guns weren't available to me easily at the time because if they were, I might be in jail right now. Shooting someone has consequences and dealing with the consequences is rarely worth it.

It's evident to me that you're not actually based in reality but a fantasy-land where you're some sort of a western-styled hero.

tommcginnis said:
Maybe we should pose the question with regard to elevators! And those states with the highest number of elevators tied with the highest number of bizarre & deadly elevator accidents -- they should all have their elevators shut down immediately.
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Elevators and cars serve a very practical purpose. Guns in civilian hands do not. You can disagree all you want but the fact remains that the rest of the western world does not freely hand assault weapons to civilians and contrary to your theory, these countries have less crime and fewer homicides.
 
comagnum said:
Self protection from a firearm? What is the mob looking for you?

When you bring a gun into your home you chances of being killed with it go up sharply and if you have kids 5-14 they are >11 times more likely of being killed with it.

https://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/18000520/gun-risk-death
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Your analysis is so flawed, I am surprised you are posting this. Look at the sources of the data on these statistics, think them through, and come to a different conclusion you will!
 
Nothing flawed about it - the statistics are comprised of coroners & law enforcement records. The FBI also has statistics on this - do your own DD.

Surprised this is to hard of a concept for you to grasp. Do your own DD and you see this is based on hard facts. Here is one source:

2014 review in the Annals of Internal Medicine - concluded having a firearm in the home, even when it’s properly stored, doubles your risk of becoming a victim of homicide and triples the risk of suicide.

Bowing out of the gun debate since so many are brandished by the NRA. Guns are like a religion to so many in the U.S.. In gun debates the gun fanatics will go from talking about protection to threatening to kill you... probably with a gun.
 
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