The website Armslist has become a major destination for firearm buyers and sellers. The site directs users to follow applicable firearms laws. Critics say the site’s operators have taken a hands-off approach to moderating its content that fuels violence and allows private sellers to bypass getting a federal firearms license, reports The Trace. Take the case of Thomas Caldwell, a veteran in his 60s with a history of mental illness. “I’ve been schizophrenic all my life, hearing voices,” he said. He didn’t have a license to sell firearms, but in 2015, police found a Glock in a Milwaukee drug house and quickly linked it to him. He’d purchased it the day before. A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent warned him about the proper way to sell guns.
Caldwell didn’t listen, and managed to turn flipping guns into a substantial business. Between December 2015 and May 2018, he made cash deposits into his bank account totaling more than $19,000, all from gun sales. ATF found that 11 guns recovered by police during investigations had been purchased by Caldwell. Officials believed the short “time to crime” — the gap between the sale of a gun and when it’s recovered at a crime scene — meant Caldwell had become a source for criminals. A prosecutor said a tragedy was “inevitable.” Law enforcement faces legal barriers to policing rogue sellers like Caldwell, but the law has also put Armslist itself out of reach. The same legal protections meant to help the internet flourish have ensured that guns keep flowing. “To protect the good actors, you have to write a standard that allows people to be pretty terrible actors too,” says James Grimmelmann, professor of law at Cornell University. “The challenge is how do you distinguish the good from the terrible actors.”