The illicit trade or sale of guns on Facebook and social media is a dark part of their potential uses, though up until this point, Facebook has been powerless to stop it. Now, however, a group of crusading mothers has entered formal discussions with Facebook to find ways to prohibit the sale of guns on the site.

There have been several recent cases of guns being sold over Facebook, the most recent of which involved a 15-year-old in Kentucky who bought a gun over Facebook and then took it to school. Thankfully, the gun was confiscated, though the advocate group of mothers, called the Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and formed after the Newtown tragedy, believe that Facebook has a responsibility to police itself and stop such illicit sales.

“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare to learn how easy it was for a 15-year-old to buy a gun via Facebook – and that he took the gun to his school in Kentucky. This is just another example of how Facebook and other sites make it easy for minors and dangerous people to get guns online, with no questions asked, and exactly why we are asking Facebook to review its current policy,” said Shannon Watts, founder of the group. “…Until [Facebook ends access to guns on the site], they are taking the risk that they are facilitating the illegal sale of guns on their social network. American moms are the number one demographic on Facebook – and we don’t want guns sold into dangerous hands on the same site where we post our family photos.”

Click Here to visit their action page and sign the petition.

Facebook has proven to very compliant with law enforcement officials in the past, but time will tell if they can put their vast oversight to use and catch illegal gun traders on the site.

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