Getting around eBay’s ban on selling parts or accessories for assault weapons is easy for those who know where to look.
, particularly when it comes to the types of weapons used in a spate of recent mass shootings. EBay, the state’s biggest e-commerce company, would like to give the impression it takes a similarly hard-line stance on them.
One could find legal 10-round magazines for popular assault rifle models such as the AR-15 and the AK-47, in various materials and designs; an “enhanced mag pull” intended to promote “quick and fumble-free magazine changes,” and an olive-drab tactical vest for holding up to eight such magazines at a time.
Yet EBay lists and profits from the sale of dozens of products that appear to violate its rules. Some show up as promoted results, meaning the seller has paid EBay to display them prominently in searches. Some appear on pages promoted by EBay in Google searches — even though Google has a policy of its own barring any advertising for gun-related products.
While there are other rifles that use them, “most people identify the .223 or 5.56 with an AR-15,” said Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Indeed, since a grip has nothing to do with a gun’s internal mechanics, there’s no reason to include those calibers except to announce it as a product for AR-15s and M16s.
A shortcoming of EBay’s policy is evident in its handling of a new category of products, introduced in response to SB 880, whose purpose is to allow owners of military-style semiautomatic rifles to make them legal by. These include fin-like grips that block the thumb from wrapping around, making a gun somewhat harder to handle; muzzle brakes that damp recoil without suppressing flash; and fixed stocks.
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