Monday 22 April 2013

AR-15 giveaway shut down: Contest on Facbook page banned

AR-15 giveaway shut down: Contest on Facbook page banned, A Facebook page hosting an AR-15 giveaway was shut down days ago and the owner of Pittsburgh Tactical Firearm is clueless as to why. While the social network shuttered the site over the gun sweepstakes, there seems to be a conflict over its "terms of service." The page owner is considering contacting the NRA over an alleged violation of his Second Amendment rights.

On April 21, The Blaze ran a follow up with Erik Lowry, gun store owner whose Facebook page was shut down over an AR-15 giveaway four days ago.

Typically, the page offers information to gun enthusiasts about store supply levels and news about the right to bear arms.

However, Lowry said a flood of calls and emails to him centered on why the page had suddenly vanished. Without any information received from Facbook beforehand, he was equally confused.

Lowry sent dozens of emails to Facebook for answers, to no avail.

The only clue that points to a possible action against his site is a post from Vocativ, a media blog in beta based on crowd-sourcing.

On April 18, a story on the site focused on gun stores sponsoring gun giveaways on Facebook.

Apparently, Vocativ reached a rep with the social media giant and inquired about the sites hosting contests for firearms. An unnamed rep agreed that the ads on Lowry's site were in violation of Facebook's terms of service (or "TOS") and should be removed.

"Our Ad Guidelines prohibit promotion of the sale of weapons and the Ad Guidelines apply to Pages with commercial content on them,. Ads may not promote the sale or use of weapons, ammunition, or explosives. Most of these should be removed per our terms," the rep said.

However, the gun store owner vehemently denies being out of compliance, saying nowhere in the guidelines does the website prohibit giving away firearms; it only forbids gun sales. What's more, in Facebook's most recent revisions (April 3), the rules appear less restrictive, according to The Blaze.

The most recent recipient of the AR-15 giveaway before a site shutdown by Facebook declared a dual victory: one for winning the assault rifle, the other for Obama's lost battle against the NRA for expanded background checks.

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