First YouTube, Now Reddit: Site Bans Gun 'Transactions' & 'Gifts'

More bad news for tech-savvy gun owners. Days after YouTube introduced new rules cracking down on gun content, Reddit has followed suit. The enormously popular discussion website just announced a new policy prohibiting users from soliciting or facilitating transactions or gifts involving “certain goods and services.” What’s at the top of the list? You guessed it. Read Reddit’s announcement below.

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Hello All—

We want to let you know that we have made a new addition to our content policy forbidding transactions for certain goods and services. As of today, users may not use Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services, including:

Firearms, ammunition, or explosives;

Drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances (except advertisements placed in accordance with our advertising policy);

Paid services involving physical sexual contact;

Stolen goods;

Personal information;

Falsified official documents or currency

When considering a gift or transaction of goods or services not prohibited by this policy, keep in mind that Reddit is not intended to be used as a marketplace and takes no responsibility for any transactions individual users might decide to undertake in spite of this. Always remember: you are dealing with strangers on the internet.

As a result of the new rules, several gun-related user boards—called “subreddits”—have gone the way of the dodo. These include /r/gundeals; /r/gundealsFU; /r/gunsforsale; /r/brassSwap; r/gunnitforward; r/CanadaGunsEE; r/AKMarketplace; r/secretsniper; /r/GunsNotForSale; and /r/airsoftmarket.

Reddit Policy Reaction

Needless to say, the changes aren’t going over well with some in the Reddit community.

“This is really, really stupid,” one user said. “I don’t participate in any of those subs, but this is a huge issue for me. I remember when I found Reddit in 2010 and the most likable thing about it was the ‘hands-off’ policy. Reddit was able to be multiple different things with multiple different groups with multiple different political ideology.”

“So why lump Firearms in with drugs, prostitution, theft, and falsifying documents? Last I checked, guns were still legal in the U.S.,” another user added.

“Seriously Reddit?! I can’t believe you banned /r/gundeals! Gundeals and /r/gundealsFU were NEVER a marketplace for firearms, it’s a collection of links to actual stores. You should seriously unban them! It’s ridiculous that you’re lumping gundeals in with other subs that facilitated illegal activities,” yet another user chimed in.

When asked if the new policy would cover firearm accessories, the Reddit-Policy account replied, “Accessories are not impacted, neither are communities organized around shooting sports or hunting.”