Menendez, Booker Introduce Bill to Stop Fraudulent Gun Sales

Legislation prevents sellers on platforms like Facebook Marketplace from circumventing terms of service to sell guns & ammunition online

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) today introduced the Stopping the Fraudulent Sales of Firearms Act, a bill to prevent gun sellers from circumventing technology companies’ terms of service by making it illegal to fraudulently sell firearms and ammunition online.

“Despite some initial steps that big tech companies have taken over the last couple of years to crack down on illegal online firearm sales, determined gun sellers and buyers continue to find new ways to circumvent these companies’ efforts,” said Sen. Menendez. “Our common-sense bill makes it clear that gun sellers who illegally move their weapons online and jeopardize public safety will pay the price for their actions.”

“By using online marketplace platforms, bad actors can bypass existing laws to illegally sell firearms that jeopardize the safety and well-being of our communities,” said Sen. Booker. “Building on my work to reform our country’s broken gun safety laws, I am proud to introduce this critical legislation that will close this dangerous loophole and make us all safer.”

Some technology companies have banned the sale of firearms and ammunition on their platforms. However, sellers often will misrepresent guns as other items to circumvent such restrictions.

For instance, sellers on platforms like Facebook Marketplace will claim to be selling “stickers” alongside images of gun maker logos. Sellers will ask interested parties to send a private message where buyers learn the posting is actually for a gun sale and receive details and pricing. Facebook reported in 2020 that it had removed 1.3 million posts related to firearms between April and June from its platforms.

“Right now, internet marketplaces are where people with dangerous histories go to buy guns from unscrupulous private sellers,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Stopping illegal gun sales will save lives and we applaud Senators Feinstein, Menendez, Booker, Blumenthal and Congresswoman Scanlon for reintroducing legislation to do exactly that.”

“Far too often, tech companies are left playing whack-a-mole to stop illegal gun sales online and it needs to stop once and for all,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “We appreciate Senators Feinstein, Menendez, Booker, and Blumenthal and Congresswoman Scanlon for their work to stop the illegal sales of firearms and fight for gun safety.”

“The overwhelming majority of Americans believe that individuals who should not possess firearms are not able to purchase them, yet loopholes in our laws and growing online sales undermine this core principle of our gun safety laws,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady. “This bill is a common-sense fix to this growing problem that recognizes the realities of the 21st Century by addressing the dangerous practice of falsely advertising firearm sales online. Brady is grateful to Senators Feinstein, Menendez, Booker, Blumenthal and Representative Scanlon for championing this important legislation.”

Last month Sens. Menendez and Booker called on YouTube to remove videos that instruct viewers on how to manufacture and assembly unserialized, untraceable and undetectable ghost guns. Last June, Sens. Menendez and Booker introduced the 3D Printed Gun Safety Act, which would prohibit the online distribution of blueprints and instructions that allow for the 3D printing of firearms. The two lawmakers also introduced the Untraceable Firearms Act last year, which would ban ghost guns by permanently including unfinished frames and receivers – the core building blocks of ghost guns – in the definition of “firearm” under federal law. As the demand for DIY firearms spiked during the pandemic, Sen. Menendez called on the Biden Administration to take executive action to close the ghost gun loophole.

The legislation was also co-sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.).