This is from http://techweb.cmp.com/ng/online/current/specials/guns/guns2.htm Lots of misinformation and disinformation. Perfectly legal items are referred to as "banned." Scare tactics about silenced machine guns, sniper rifles, and even "speed loaders to load all of the cylinders of a revolver at once" (horrors! does the author know that every gun store I've ever been in sells these things for about $6 each?). One quote even refers to "our" technologies: "It might seem that the contents of rec.guns alone could be easily monitored for illegal transactions. However, my sources have shown me that with the availability of anonymous remailers and several sources of digital cash, it is increasingly possible for seller and buyer to never know who the other party is or where they are." (This of course is nonsense, about the digital cash, etc. If one exchanges an item in physical space, at least for now there is some mailing or shipping nexus. (Anonymous drops in storage lockers are a possibility, though ripe for stings.) Certainly I have never heard of a digital cash transaction for a gun...and not for a lot of other things, either.) In view of the Paladin case, the Feinstein "bomb-making instructions ban," and calls to shut down gun shows, this article may give some tips on coming actions. And the plans for the Federal Trade Commission and Food and Drug Administration to start cruising the Web looking for illegal speech also provides a clue. Personally, I'm beginning to think --Tim May --begin quote-- Threaded Chat The rec.guns group is a bit like a combination of Town Hall and Market Square in Firearms Land. People sound off about government regulations, at any level, in any locale. Disgruntled users warn others about substandard products. New members ask advice and old hands compare notes on match grade ammunition. Once I saw an advisory posted to all people who had bought surplus East German ammunition. This writer had acquired an old East German technical manual that showed the exact chemical composition of the propellant charges in their bullets. It included a warning that after 5 years, the charges could chemically degrade and become subject to misfires or dud rounds, a useful thing to know about if you happen to be holding some of said ammunition, certainly. There are also quite a lot of messages on rec.guns on the best legal way to buy a gun online (decidedly not the procedure followed by Z and many others). But rec.guns is also a marketplace: long banana clip magazines (usually 30-40 shot magazines for semiautomatic rifles that were banned under the Assault Rifle ban; of course, all these are advertised as being manufactured "pre-ban"), speed loaders to load all of the cylinders of a revolver at once, equipment for hand-loading one's own ammunition, and, of course, guns: revolvers, semiautomatic pistols, rifles, shotguns, and others. One night while writing this article I saw a Galil for sale. The Galil is an Israeli-made assault rifle, rated as one of the best in the world. On an earlier visit I saw an ad for quantities of Dragunovs. The Dragunov was the standard issue sniper rifle for the Red Army. In the hands of a sharpshooter, such a gun can be accurate to within inches at ranges out to 2/3 of a mile. And given the present state of the economy in Russia, we are likely to see more, not less, of any of the standard Russian weapons, Dragunovs and others. It might seem that the contents of rec.guns alone could be easily monitored for illegal transactions. However, my sources have shown me that with the availability of anonymous remailers and several sources of digital cash, it is increasingly possible for seller and buyer to never know who the other party is or where they are. That becomes even more of a concern on the World Wide Web, where, just as all other forms of advocacy and commerce are flourishing, so are firearms advocacy and sales. The NRA is online; everyone knows their position. At Sniper Country/Extreme Shooting Sports, the motto is "happiness is a confirmed kill," and you can learn all about famous and infamous snipers. At Shootin' Stuff you can read comparisons of handguns for home or self defense use, including the Makarov 9mm, the sidearm once issued only to officers in the Red Army. You can even download images of slugs being fired from a stationary rifle held in a vise. If this puts you in a buying mood, you can travel over to Stokes's Firearms Enthusiasts' Web Magazine, where a graphic of a silenced submachine gun greets you. When I first went to this site earlier this year, it was open and anyone could peruse the ads and offerings; now, however, a password is required. For those who lack patience or don't want yet another net password, there are sites that offer immediate access to their ads. The Champion Firearms Home Page, Guncraft Sports Web Pages, and the Electronic Gun Shop are all open for business now. They offer, variously, revolvers, semiautomatic pistols, rifles, and shotguns. It must be emphasized that there is nothing illegal about any online gun commerce; there are existing laws and regulations that do cover the situation. But when UPS, however unknowingly, delivers 9mm pistols, it is clear that ignoring the existing rules is accomplished rather easily online, a point that applies for any other sort of online commerce, whether presently regulated by law or not. ... --end excerpt---