Guns listed for sale on Facebook using simple loophole

An easy trick lets people buy, sell and trade weapons on Marketplace

Facebook users are using the site's online marketplace to sell guns to other users (AFP/Getty Images)

Gun sellers are using Facebook's online marketplace to sell assault rifles and other weapons by using a simple trick to get around the site's strict rules.

Facebook's Marketplace policies prohibit its users from buying, selling or trading "firearms, ammunition and explosives" through the platform.

But a loophole is allowing dozens of Facebook users to get around these rules by disguising firearm listings as expensive gun cases.

The loophole was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, who found several suspiciously priced cases listed in several US states. When contacted privately through Facebook Messenger, sellers revealed that the sale price included the firearm that belongs to the case.

It took just one search on Marketplace for The Independent to uncover similar examples.

One seller from South Carolina wrote in the description of the gun case for sale: "Case only, this does not go against any policies."

When contacted by The Independent, the seller revealed that the case came with a semi-automatic assault rifle inside.

A picture of the weapon in the case, together with a scope and other add-ons, was shared via private message.

Facebook's Marketplace, which was set up in 2016, allows any of the social network's more-than 2 billion users to sell secondhand items. It is policed by both artificial algorithms and human moderators to prevent the sale of illegal items.

Its policies prohibit Facebook users from buying, selling or trading illegal or unethical items, however this is not the first time such items have been discovered.

Within hours of it first launching, users were listing drugs, weapons, animals and adult services.

Responding to the latest listings, a Facebook spokesperson said: "Selling guns on Facebook is a clear violation of our policies."

They added that any items for sale that break Facebook's rules would be immediately removed.