Online marketplace Etsy has extended its firearms ban to prohibit the listing of all gun parts and gun accessories (anything associated with or attached to a firearm). The move comes amid an increase in the sale of firearms over the last year as riots across cities and a rise in crime has led to more people feeling unsafe, some speculate.
Etsy, an online marketplace focusing on handmade, craft, and vintage items, allows a few guns accessories and parts to be listed on its platform. The platform has continually introduced policies restricting the sale of firearms and related products. Now, the platform has suddenly decided to do away with all gun parts and accessories all together.
“We take the safety of our marketplace very seriously, and we regularly revisit our policies and make adjustments in accordance with industry, legal, and regulatory standards,” an Etsy spokesperson said.
The platform sent an email about the new guidelines to all sellers that would be affected. The sellers had until Tuesday, May 25, to comply.
“As of May 25, 2021, we will no longer accommodate any gun parts or accessories that attach to a firearm,” read the email sent to sellers. “We take protecting our marketplace very seriously and work hard to balance the enforcement of our policies with the unique variety of handmade items our sellers contribute to the marketplace.”
One seller replied to the email asking whether the new rule affected his wooden grips for guns.
“I’m currently selling wooden grips for guns under the category that Etsy setup for them,” Etsy seller UniqueWood220 wrote.
“Does Etsy now consider them forbidden under this new rule? If so, I need to quickly find another place to list my items.”
The seller claims he was told that Etsy “can no longer accommodate these products in our marketplace.”
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