Facebook had already banned the sale of guns without
identity checks, but the new rules aim to stop all gun trade between
individuals on the sites.
Businesses can still advertise guns on Facebook and
Instagram.
The move comes three weeks after US
President Barack Obama unveiled new restrictions on gun purchases.
Mr Obama's executive actions included background checks for
all gun sellers and the requirement that states provide information on people disqualified from buying guns due to
mental illness or domestic violence.
The rule change brings gun sales under the same restrictions
placed by Facebook on illegal drugs and pharmaceuticals by Facebook. The site
has 1.59bn users worldwide.
Facebook "was unfortunately and unwittingly serving as
an online platform for dangerous people to get guns", Shannon
Watts, of the Everytown for Gun Safety campaign group, told Associated Press.
The group said it had found evidence that guns had been
bought on the site and used to kill others in two cases.
Everytown for Gun Safety was one of a number of groups that
had called on Facebook to change its policy.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), which opposes changes
to gun legislation, has not however skilled Facebook's call.
In 2014, the pressure group same previous moves by the
network to limit gun advertising were insignificant.
In late 2013, New York's
professional person general, Eric T Schneiderman, wrote to Facebook, alerting
them to "a variety of teams within which users promoted the sale of
assault rifles, handguns, rifles, shotguns and gun parts".
Several hours once Facebook's announcement on weekday,
dozens of teams on the positioning advertising personal gun sales remained
live.
Some users writing on the teams' walls urged beginning new
groups below inconspicuous names to
avoid detection.
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