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Facebook is now banning private gun sales

Posted at 8:41 PM, Jan 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-29 21:22:48-05

Facebook has announced it will be banning the private sales of guns on its website and on Instragram. 

The move is in an effort to crack down on the purchasing and sale of guns without the appropriate background checks. Closing the social media sales loophole has been a point of emphasis for President Obama and many other politicians and gun safety advocacy groups.

According to the New York Times, the ban will affect private sales, such as those done from an owner, but will not affect licensed dealers.

With Facebook's estimated 1.59 billion visitors each month, the site functions as an unequivocally large market for gun sales -- illegal or not.

A CNN Money report says Facebook has "systems in place to detect private gun sales" that will take down the content that violates the new policy. 

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