• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 1, 2016

In a move sure to attract both widespread praise and condemnation, Facebook has announced a ban on gun sales, targeting “peer-to-peer” sales between unlicensed users. The social network will still allow licensed firearms dealers and clubs to maintain pages on the site, but they will not be permitted to sell weapons. The ban also applies to Instagram.

Facebook said the ban will rely on other users to report violations, similar to its policies regarding nudity and other offensive content. Users are encouraged to flag pages, posts, and other content involved in online gun sales, including messages on Facebook Messenger.

In a sign of the new policy’s seriousness, Facebook it maintains the right to ban chronic violators or restrict their communication capabilities, and will cooperate with law enforcement in cases where it believes someone’s life may be in danger. Presumably, there will also be a process of appeal, whereby users can ask to have content restored in case of a mistake or misunderstanding.

The ban extends previous restrictions implemented by Facebook: in 2014 the social network unveiled nine policies intended to prevent gun sales to under-age users, including blocking minors from seeing ads for guns. Facebook also prohibits users from buying or selling illegal drugs or pharmaceuticals on its network.

The new ban comes not long after the White House issued new guidelines intended to tighten restrictions on some types of gun sales, including an expanded definition of who constitutes a gun dealer. While some critics dismissed these as mostly symbolic, a number of Second Amendment advocates said peer-to-peer sales will simply move online. This, in turn, spurred calls by gun control advocates including New York State attorney general Eric Schneiderman for online companies like Facebook to crack down on gun sales.