Return of the Booth Babes: The 2007 SHOT Show
This page has been moved to http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nut
If your browser doesn’t redirect you to the new location, please visit The Gun Nut at its new location: www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nut.
eBay Takes A Guilt Trip
This is one of those items that I thought was a gag, but it's apparently real enough. eBay believes that a gun part (it never says which or what) bought through it was used in the Virginia Tech massacre, so it has now extended its list of banned items to include any part of a gun that might be involved in the firing of a cartridge, whatever that means. They are also banning "bullet tips," whatever those are. I think they mean bullets.
This information was promulgated by a gentleman named Mark Halprin, who holds the title of Vice President, Trust & Safety. When I saw this I turned a pale fuscia with envy. It makes Deputy Editor seem limp and lifeless, sort of like a collapsed souffle.
I am therefore changing my title to Vice President, Truth & Beauty. In any event, if you want to buy an RPG or a couple of pounds of Semtex, you won't be able to get it on E-Bay.
Hello everyone. In mid-August, we will be updating our Firearms, Weapons and Knives Policy to place more restrictions around gun-related items. Once these changes take effect, we will prohibit listings of any firearm part that is required for the firing of a gun. This includes items like bullet tips, brass casings and shells, barrels, slides, cylinders, magazines, firing pins, trigger assemblies, etc. Please read the Firearms, Weapons and Knives Policy for more details on our current policy.
As you may know, eBay does not allow the listing of any items which are regulated by individual states or the federal government; however, there are still a large number of firearm-related parts that are legal and are widely available in retail stores. These items have also historically been allowed on eBay.
After learning that some items purchased on eBay may have been used in the tragedy at Virginia Tech in April 2007, we felt that revisiting our policies was not only necessary, but the right thing to do. After much consideration, the Trust & Safety policy team - along with our executive leaders at eBay Inc. - have made the decision to further restrict more of these items than federal and state regulations require.
This new update continues to encourage safety among our community members and brings our policies in the U.S. and Canada in closer alignment with our existing policies in other markets around the globe.
Sincerely,
Matt Halprin
Vice President, Trust & Safety
It's the end of something. On occasion, I would purchase some hard to find shooting supplies on eBay. Now it's on to other sites for my Tow missles and C-4! Congratulations on your new title! Dave, you are doing a good job with the truth; keep working on the beauty. Have a good week end.
Posted by: PbHead | August 10, 2007 at 02:20 PM
Truth yes! Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder! Nice title however!
Fortunately Numrich and other web merchants will still supply hard to find parts to firearms. E-bay is now eliminated from my 'Favorites' folder. Deleted! Somehow that small but satisfying gesture on my part is unlikely to affect their mega-zillion dollar bottom line but oh-well!
Posted by: SilverArrow | August 10, 2007 at 02:32 PM
FEAR of lawsuits by faggoty corporate suits
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 02:44 PM
stop selling autos ebay, before people are run over
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 02:49 PM
btw plenty gun places to buy n sell online, ebay's loss
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 02:52 PM
Matt Halprin
Vice President, Trust & Safety
Picture of Matt Halprin
http://search.msn.com/images/results.aspx?q=head%20up%20ass&FORM=QBIR#focal=0e52750cb7ae71dafbb331e38f289fd9&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geetarz.org%2Ffunniez%2Fpics%2Fhead-up-ass.jpg
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 02:53 PM
Nice picture of Matt Halprin, Vice President, Trust & Safety
Scary thing happened to me, I went hunting with the chief of ground safety one day. We were about 50 yards apart and there was a jackrabbit between the two of us. He raised his rifle and going to shoot the critter with me in line of fire!
Just because Matt Halprin is Vice President, Trust & Safety, doesn’t make him an expert in the subject. By the way, the chief of ground safety had a Doctors degree in industrial safety!
Matt Halprin is nothing more than a yes man, warm body in a PC position!
I REST MY CASE!
Posted by: Clay Cooper | August 10, 2007 at 03:04 PM
www.gunbroker.com the new ebay.
Posted by: Ryan C. | August 10, 2007 at 03:10 PM
I like to sneak a mouse in Matt Halprin office and turn it loose!
Posted by: Clay Cooper | August 10, 2007 at 03:17 PM
This toad from E-bay is just playing cover your ass. Lawyers would love for ebay to sell something used in a crime just to sue and hopefully make some bucks.
Everyone thinks Political correctness has taken over. It's not that, it's lawyers running the world (look @ congress). People are afraid to say or do anything for fear of being sued by employees, customers, the government, the old lady down the street, etc...
It's sad but true. Lawyers suck!
Name witheld for fear of lawsuit.
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 03:40 PM
we have your IP address. Bwahahahaha.
Posted by: site admin | August 10, 2007 at 05:00 PM
"The first thing we do, kill all the lawyers"
William Shakespeare
Posted by: Dr. Ralph | August 10, 2007 at 05:11 PM
site admin:
"we have your IP address. Bwahahahaha"
204.9.178.171
lols
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 08:13 PM
Out damned spot
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 08:17 PM
Dr R, get thee to a nunnerry
njoy
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 08:20 PM
www.gunbroker.com
can u sell amp logos on gunbroker.com lol
Posted by: | August 10, 2007 at 08:27 PM
Big deal - so now you have to buy your gun parts from a different site than you buy your beagle figurines. BIG DEAL. If I owned a business that catered to a large cross-section of society, I too would eliminate those areas which threatened the most lawsuits (and legal costs). It was a sound business decision - who wants to hear their name on CNN connected with a crazed killer?
Posted by: Ditto | August 10, 2007 at 11:05 PM
Look up a part number for my shotgun and all I get is some sex toy on ebay!
Mr. Matt Halprin, Vice President, Trust & Safety, We know the location of your trust & safety is at!
Posted by: Clay Cooper | August 11, 2007 at 02:34 AM
"After learning that some items purchased on eBay may have been used in the tragedy at Virginia Tech in April 2007, we felt that revisiting our policies was not only necessary, but the right thing to do. After much consideration, the Trust & Safety policy team - along with our executive leaders at eBay Inc. - have made the decision to further restrict more of these items than federal and state regulations require."
PC vomitus!
Posted by: J. M. | August 11, 2007 at 07:24 AM
For a long time we considered eBay as a necessary evil, because there
are items there you can't find anywhere else. Why evil? Because eBay
(and PayPal, even when they were separate entities) has always been big
donors to Democratic candidates. Paypal donated directly to Brady. So
with every brass purchase, every penny spent on dies, a little bit was
going towards removing that right.
ArmsAmerica and Gunbroker will become more popular now, and I antipate
new specialty auction sites.
This ban does not hurt us, it hurts Sarah and Hellary and their ilk.
And that's a good thing.
Posted by: | August 11, 2007 at 09:21 AM
Brother and Sister Shooters, we are the Bad Guys. No matter how we behave, how charitable we may be, we are bad, because we touch the untouchable...guns. Although the Virginia Tech student used computers, disks, clothes, chains, locks, shoes, and hopefully, soap--all eBay commodities--the law abiding shooting community must take a hit on this one. It is like saying, "We at eBay are virtuous, because we don't like bullet tips and we don't like those who do."
We seem to be developing two cultures...the naive, non-shooting and hunting community, and the realists who do. I would have admired eBay had they invited dialogue about this, rather than just announce their wonderfully "wise and humane decision." However, dialogue might backfire on management, whose minds seem to be made up.
Tom Fowler
Posted by: Tom Fowler | August 11, 2007 at 09:28 AM
PC at its best/worst. I used to use ebay until I realized what it really is, the world's largest fence for stolen property. No longer do you find the"guy" behind a truck saying"Want a good deal on a DVD player?" Now they put it on Ebay. Do you ever see all of the "gift cards" to large retail stores being sold? most of the time they are "return without receipt cards", they steal from the stores, return the item to a different store in the chain, get a "return card" then put it up for sale on ebay. So stay away from ebay and deal with those you know, try to keep the little guy in business. Because when they are all gone it will only be the "PC" guys left, and they could care less about our rights.
Posted by: RJ Arena | August 11, 2007 at 09:35 AM
E-bay's policy is obsurd, and I agree w/RJ;Give your business to the local gun smith.
Posted by: Ralph the Rifleman | August 11, 2007 at 11:51 AM
I have used EBAY and Paypal for years, I have also canceled both accounts.
Posted by: rek | August 11, 2007 at 12:05 PM
I think it is better to buy from sites like Gunbroker.com and Gunsamerica.com. Why go all over the Internet to find used or hard-to-find guns and parts? There's another thing about Ebay that I absolutely detest: PayPal. It's a real pain in the ass to use. Why do they need such a complicated system? I've dealt with sellers on Gunbroker and I haven't been disappointed. But if Ebay thinks we are all just the minions of hell, then Ebay can just go to hell! It's like what the people on Gunbroker tell a new seller who brags of his Ebay feedback: "Hey, Ebay's a bad word around here! Don't brag about anything having anything to do with Ebay!"
Posted by: Chev Jim | August 11, 2007 at 02:44 PM