As far as I’ve been able to determine, all they do along liberal lines is refuse to deal with functioning firearms and ammo. Lots of accessories and other gun related stuff. It takes a lot more than that to qualify as liberal. Actually, quite a few liberals are not anti-gun. And quite a few conservatives are. For another, true anti-gun people, liberal and conservative, are also anti-anything-else-gun.
What say you?
mangeorge, a gun-toting, beer guzzling, nascar watching, pickup (no limo) driving liberal
Liberal? That is purely an economic decision, so some felon couldn’t buy a gun from them and use it in a crime. They just don’t want to get sued by some victim. Politics doesn’t enter into it.
Financial institutions are almost never politically active unless forced into it. They want money from people of all political persuasions. That said, wealthy people have grabbed an ever-increasing share of the American finanical pie over the years, and wealthy people tend to be conservative. Overall, this tends to make the decision makers at financial institutions politically conservative, but not necessarily socially conservative (they generally are insulated enough by money from society that they tend to be socially amoral).
Refusing to deal with firearms & ammo isn’t necessarily liberal; it could simply be that they don’t want to deal with the panopoly of different laws in different jurisdictions. Do they also have restrictions on tobacco and alcohol? Those are also a pain to deal with shipping over state lines.
It’s nothing to do with political orientation, only compliance with the law. The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits mail order sales of rifles and shotguns. There are a myriad of state laws about sales and transport of other firearms that could get them in deep trouble if they didn’t simply refuse outright to get involved with it at all.
I tend to agree with all of you, so far, but some of my shooter friends think those policies abridge the Second. But then some of them think anything not enthusiastically pro-gun is an affront to that Ammendment.
Paypal and ebay can pretty much set whatever policies they want. I agree with that. I (and my trigger happy friends) can choose to not avail ourselves of any of those companies’ services as we see fit. I agree with that too. I just don’t see anything directly constitutional in either decision.
But the idea that both (they are actually one) are strongly anti-gun is so pervasive that I wonder. Some of these folks are well informed and generally not likely to jump to conclusions. Is there a way to look at ebay/paypal’s politics? Contributions for example.
Peace,
mangeorge, who busted the Board yesterday. 
Well, I do too, but so what? That has nothing to do with whether eBay & PayPal should violate them and put their businesses at risk. I can easily see someone at eBay saying, “Yeah, this law sucks, but it’s not worth the effort for us to violate it it willy-nilly and get ourselves sued by the feds.”
That’s not liberal, just pragmatic.
But not any LAWS they want.
The Gun Control Act doesn’t seem to slow these guys down; you can bid on just about any kind of legal firearm available today. The only restriction is it must be shipped from a federal firearm license (FFL) holder, to another FFL holder. This is done all the time; your local gun shop will ship and receive guns for you for a small fee. So there is no legal restriction that would make auctioning guns illegal.
That’s just it. I don’t think any laws, constitional or otherwise, compel ebay and paypal to have anything at all to do with firearms.
But their policies regarding firearms don’t, by themselves, qualify them as liberal.
Looking at other aspects of their business’, other policies for example, lead me to see them as quite conservative.
Last time I looked, eBay wasn’t a governmental institution. If I don’t allow firearms in my own house, would your “shooter friends” accuse me of abridging the Second?
Yes. They would tell you about the First Ammendment, and call you a “liberal”. But they wouldn’t insist on bringing their nasty guns into your home.
Anyway, your comparison isn’t germane to this thread. Your house is not a business.
That’s okay.
Gun ownership, kinda like smoking, is hard to defend on it’s own merits.
It’s perfectly germane to this thread. Business are private property; they are not the government. Even huge business like eBay.
If I don’t want guns in my home or my place of non-governmental business, I have the right to ban them.
Post #5, above, refers you to a link. Read it. It’s the law, and PayPal and eBay must obey it.
I am very much an anti-gun liberal…however my guess is that this is more of a business decision than political stance. I doubt that the small profit margin of gun sales would warrant the potential legal liability costs and bad press of somehow being involved in the sale of a gun that kills a kid or is traced back to some serial murderer. Having worked in law firms, I know how families and attorneys go after the “big pockets”…and if ebay or paypal had anything to do with a death, no matter how remote the connection, trust me, they would be named in the lawsuit.
Actually, the phrase is deep pockets, but you know what I meant…
Read my post #8. It is not illegal to auction firearms.
Is it really all that different from complaining that my local Wendy’s or Barnes and Noble refuses to carry firearms? I’d hardly say that they’re stomping on the constitution. A business has the freedom to choose what they sell and if it seems out of line of their normal merchandise (like Wendy’s or Barnes and Noble) or just like a pain in the ass (likely Ebay), I wouldn’t call them any political persuasion. If it made economic sense for them to do it (i.e. high profits, no risk of legal action, etc.) I have no doubt that Ebay would be selling guns before I finish this post.
I didn’t say it was illegal to auction firearms.
Then how does the Gun Control Act (or any federal statute) compel eBay and PayPal to restrict the sale of guns?
EBay doesn’t allow quite a bit of other stuff to be listed:
"*Prohibited and Restricted Items - Overview
Find out if your item is allowed. As an eBay user, you are ultimately responsible for making sure that buying or selling an item is legal in the eyes of the law.
Prohibited and Restricted Items List:
Academic Software
Alcohol (also see Wine)
Animals and Wildlife Products
Anti-circumvention Policy
Artifacts
Authenticity Disclaimers
Autographed Items
Beta Software
Bonus, Prize, Giveaway and Raffle
Bootleg Recordings
Brand Name Misuse
Catalog Sales
Catalytic Converters and Test Pipes
Celebrity Material
Cell Phone (Wireless) Service Contracts
Charity or Fundraising Listings
Comparison Policy
Compilation and Informational Media
Contracts and Tickets
Counterfeit Currency and Stamps
Counterfeit Items
Credit Cards
Describing Drugs or Drug-like Substances
Downloadable Media
Drugs & Drug Paraphernalia
Electronics Equipment
Embargoed Goods and Prohibited Countries
Encouraging Illegal Activity
Encouraging Infringement Policy
Event Tickets
Faces, Names and Signatures
Firearms, Weapons and Knives
Food
Gift Cards
Government and Transit Documents
Government and Transit Uniforms
Government IDs and Licenses
Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Items
Human Parts and Remains
Importation of Goods into the United States
International Trading - Buyers
International Trading - Sellers
Listing No Item
Lockpicking Devices
Lottery Tickets
Mailing Lists and Personal Information
Manufacturers’ Coupons
Mature Audiences
Medical Devices
Misleading Titles
Mod Chips, Game Enhancers, and Boot Discs
Movie Prints
Multi-level Marketing, Pyramid and Matrix Programs
OEM Software
Offensive Material
Pesticides
Plants and Seeds
Police-Related Items
Political Memorabilia
Postage Meters
Pre-Sale Listings
Prescription Drugs
Prohibited Services
Promotional Items
Real Estate
Recalled Items
Recordable Media
Replica and Counterfeit Items
Satellite and Cable TV Descrambers
Slot Machines
Stocks and Other Securities
Stolen Property and Property with Removed Serial Numbers
Surveillance Equipment
Teacher’s Edition Textbooks
Test Listings
Tobacco
Transit and Shipping Related Items
Travel
Unauthorized Copies
Used Clothing
Used Cosmetics
Warranties
Wine (also see Alcohol) * "
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/items-ov.html
Each listing above has specifics. For example, although used clothing is generally OK, used underwear is not.