By: Teresa Mull

Shopify, a Canadian-based ecommerce platform, just changed its user policy to prohibit the sale of certain firearms and accessories. Retailers who use the platform say this move will likely cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Spike’s Tactical, a Florida-based gun manufacturer, has built their entire website and online sales portal exclusively using the Shopify platform and conducts millions of dollars in sales through Shopify each year,” Ammoland.com reports.

“‘This decision will have significant ramifications to our business and should concern every online retailer and Second Amendment supporter,’ said Cole Leleux, general manager of Spike’s Tactical.”

“We have invested more than $100,000 in the development of our Shopify store, which will disappear once these policies go into effect,” Leleux said.

Dustin Pitcher uses Shopify for his business, AR15Discounts.com, which generates an annual revenue of $2 million.

“This is the market where Shopify doesn’t have to compete with Amazon,” Pitcher told Bloomberg.com. “…The overall size of the market I’m in is much bigger than people think it is.”

Shopify’s new policies contradict a statement the company’s CEO, Tobias Lütke, made last year when leftists tried to persuade the company to stop selling products from Breitbart.com’s (a conservative news site) store.

“We don’t like Breitbart, but products are speech and we are pro free speech,” Lütke said at the time. “This means protecting the right of organizations to use our platform even if they are unpopular or if we disagree with their premise, as long as they are within the law.”

Shopify’s list of “restricted items” include:

Certain Firearms
• an automatic firearm that has not been rendered inoperable
• a semi-automatic firearm that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine, with one or more of the following items:
o magazine capable of accepting more than 10 rounds
o bump stock
o rapid fire trigger activator or trigger crank
o barrel shroud
o thumbhole stock
o threaded barrel capable of accepting a flash suppressor, sound suppressor or silencer
o grenade or rocket launcher
o flash suppressor, sound suppressor or silencer
o pistol grip (or in the case of a pistol, a second pistol grip)
o forward pistol grip
• a semi-automatic firearm that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds
• firearms without serial numbers
• ghost guns and 3D printed guns, including blueprints for such guns
• any part, component or kit for any firearm or gun listed above

Certain Firearm Parts
• 80% or unfinished lower receivers
• magazine capable of accepting more than 10 rounds
• bump stock
• grenade or rocket launcher
• pistol grip (or in the case of a pistol, a second pistol grip)
• forward pistol grip
• barrel shroud*
• thumbhole stock*
• threaded barrel capable of accepting a flash suppressor, sound suppressor or silencer*
• flash suppressor, sound suppressor or silencer*
• rapid fire trigger activator or trigger crank
• any part, component or kit for a firearm part or including a firearm part listed above
*only if for use with a semi-automatic firearm

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].

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