Facebook announced it will ban private gun sales on its main social networking site and on photo-sharing site Instagram.
According to Complex, last year the number of mass shootings in the U.S. exceeded the number of days in the year, and Chicago has already recorded more than 100 killings in 2016.
Though Facebook was not directly involved in gun sales, there were forums on which people arranged to buy and sell guns. The ban doesn't allow private person-to-person sales, but licensed gun dealers and gun clubs are allowed to maintain pages on Facebook and post to Instagram.
"Over the last two years, more and more people have been using Facebook to discover products and to buy and sell things to one another," said Monika Bickert, Facebook's head of product policy, according to the New York Times. " We are continuing to develop, test and launch new products to make this experience even better for people and are updating our regulated goods policies to reflect this evolution."
In a statement, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said: "Today's announcement is another positive step toward our shared goal of stopping illegal online gun sales once and for all."
According to Complex, President Barack Obama announced sweeping executive actions that would expand background checks for would-be gun purchasers and other gun-safety measures.
