I had always thought Gunbroker frowned on illegal auctions, then I started thinking... It is illegal to introduce an automatic knife into interstate commerce right? Yes it is, unless the receiving party is a government entity. Well I go to Gunbroker to see how they manage their auctions for these items and find no information on such things, however I did find nearly 200 auctions for automatic knives (not one of which I viewed mentioned federal law, only asked that buyers comply with state laws and local ordnances). This slightly perturbs me as I am a dealer in Virginia and run the Gunbroker banner on my site however VA states that possession of automatic knives and related items is legal but selling such items is a class 4 misdemeanor, now I find out that I am advertising a web site that runs illegal auctions for these items.[soapbox]

What's your take on this???

Jake

Oh OK, so as long as they don' t give firearms web sites a bad name we have nothing to worry about, right? What about the fact that the FBI can legally troll now? You guys used to bitch about the DIAS on Gunbroker being stings, now the buyer can be the one who is the agent busting sellers for illegally shipping [b]switchblades[/b]! It just..... arrrgh!

Jake

The automatic knife market is a don't ask don't tell biz.

Ebay allows illegal auctions as well.  Everyday fakes of trademarked/copyrighted Swiss watches can be found.  Ebay doesn't really care either because it's money in the bank for them.

Edited to add, I don't believe those knife auctions are illegal.

Shadowblade, the key here is that it is illegal to ship an automatic knife across a state line. Its not like the sellers are doing wrong in shipping to illegal areas, that falls to the buyer to insure that he is legal befor bidding. But they are in the wrong by shipping them across state lines!

Gimme a minute and I'll post the US code.
Jake

[green]Title 15, Chapter 29, Section 1242 of the us code reads as follows:[/green]
[b]Section 1242. Introduction, manufacture for introduction, transportation or distribution in interstate commerce; penalty [/b]
Whoever knowingly introduces, or manufactures for introduction,
   into interstate commerce, or transports or distributes in
   interstate commerce, any switchblade knife, shall be fined not more
   than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

[green]Title 15, Chapter 29, Section 1243 of the us code reads as follows:[/green]
[b]Section 1243. Manufacture, sale, or possession within specific jurisdictions; penalty [/b]
Whoever, within any Territory or possession of the United States,
   within Indian country (as defined in section 1151 of title 18), or
   within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the
   United States (as defined in section 7 of title 18), manufactures,
   sells, or possesses any switchblade knife, shall be fined not more
   than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

[green]Title 15, Chapter 29, Section 1244 of the us code reads as follows:[/green]
[b]Section 1244. Exceptions [/b]
Sections 1242 and 1243 of this title shall not apply to -
       (1) any common carrier or contract carrier, with respect to any
     switchblade knife shipped, transported, or delivered for shipment
     in interstate commerce in the ordinary course of business;
       (2) the manufacture, sale, transportation, distribution,
     possession, or introduction into interstate commerce, of
     switchblade knives pursuant to contract with the Armed Forces;
       (3) the Armed Forces or any member or employee thereof acting
     in the performance of his duty; or
       (4) the possession, and transportation upon his person, of any
     switchblade knife with a blade three inches or less in length by
     any individual who has only one arm.

[red]So they aren't illegal huh???[/red]

If you have any questions about US code this is a great site: [url]http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/uscode.html/[/url]

Jake

I partially agree, my problem is with all of the negative publicity we receive why can't Gunbroker post the federal law for all to read or require that sellers confirm to federal law. As I stated earlier possession of autos is legal in Virginia, however they can't be sold here, that leaves Virginia residents left to either travel out of state to buy or shop online. Once they make an attempt to order online they are not the one who is subject to federal law rather it is the seller.

Do you see where I'm coming from?

Jake