II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2725 

To amend the Communications Decency Act to remove immunity for online 

firearms marketplaces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Communications Decency Act to remove immunity for online firearms marketplaces, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for On5 line Firearms Marketplaces Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The core purpose of section 230 of the 

9 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230) (comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Sep 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2725.IS S2725

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2725 IS

1 monly known as the ‘‘Communications Decency 

2 Act’’) (referred to in this section as ‘‘Section 230’’) 

3 is to provide a specific protection for online plat4 forms acting as Good Samaritans to stop online 

5 abuse. Specifically, Section 230 states that providers 

6 of interactive computer services will not be treated 

7 as publishers or speakers of user-generated content. 

8 In turn, the provision entrusted providers to act as 

9 Good Samaritans to police their platforms by block10 ing and screening offensive content. 

11 (2) Section 230 bars actions that hold providers 

12 liable as publishers of third-party content, but the 

13 statute is irrelevant to claims unrelated to such pub14 lications. If a claim does not treat the defendant as 

15 a publisher, Section 230 should not apply. 

16 (3) However, courts have interpreted Section 

17 230 as providing sweeping immunity for a broad 

18 array of providers, including providers alleged to 

19 have facilitated violations of criminal laws online. 

20 This interpretation is overly broad and discourages 

21 the self-policing that Section 230 intended to 

22 incentivize. 

23 (4) In Daniel v. Armslist, the Wisconsin Su24 preme Court read Section 230 to bar claims against 

25 an online firearms marketplace. The court’s decision 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2725 IS

1 swept so broadly as to cover websites designed to en2 courage and facilitate firearms trafficking in viola3 tion of chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code. 

4 (5) Online firearms marketplaces have made it 

5 increasingly easy for people who are prohibited from 

6 gun ownership to purchase guns online. Online fire7 arms marketplaces facilitate such sales because 

8 while Federal law requires licensed gun dealers to 

9 perform background checks on prospective buyers, it 

10 does not require unlicensed sellers to do so. For 

11 more than a decade, online firearms marketplaces 

12 have exploited this legal loophole by allowing unli13 censed sellers to sell guns directly to people prohib14 ited from gun ownership. 

15 (6) Every year, unlicensed sellers post more 

16 than 1,000,000 advertisements on online firearms 

17 marketplaces in States that do not legally require a 

18 background check. Individuals with criminal his19 tories and other prohibited purchasers rely on these 

20 postings to evade basic background check laws and 

21 procure firearms. One study found that nearly 1 in 

22 9 prospective gun buyers who respond to advertise23 ments from unlicensed sellers on a major online fire24 arms marketplace would not pass a background 

25 check, which is a rate that is 7 times higher than 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2725 IS

1 the denial rate in contexts where background checks 

2 are required. 

3 (7) Congress did not intend for Section 230 to 

4 bar otherwise valid claims against online firearms 

5 marketplaces for their own design of a website that 

6 encourages and contributes to its users circum7 venting Federal laws, including Federal gun laws. 

8 SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE. 

9 Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

10 U.S.C. 230) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘No pro13 vider’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

14 paragraph (3), no provider’’; and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF PUBLISHER OR SPEAKER

17 DOES NOT APPLY TO ONLINE FIREARMS MARKET18 PLACE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an online 

19 firearms marketplace, for purposes of any claim in 

20 an action brought against the online firearms mar21 ketplace in its capacity as an online firearms mar22 ketplace.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2725 IS

1 ‘‘(5) ONLINE FIREARMS MARKETPLACE.—The 

2 term ‘online firearms marketplace’ means an inter3 active computer service that— 

4 ‘‘(A) facilitates transactions related to fire5 arms, firearms accessories, firearms equipment, 

6 and other firearms-related materials; 

7 ‘‘(B) advertises or makes available any 

8 posting or listing of any statement by a trans9 feror or by a transferee that could be reason10 able inferred to propose the transfer of a fire11 arm; or 

12 ‘‘(C) makes digital instructions in the form 

13 of Computer Aided Design files or other code 

14 that can automatically program a 3-dimensional 

15 printer or similar device to produce a firearm or 

16 complete a firearm from an unfinished frame or 

17 receiver, 

18 regardless of whether such transactions or other ac19 tivities violate the terms of service of the interactive 

20 computer services. 

21 ‘‘(6) FIREARM.— The term ‘firearm’ has the 

22 meaning given the term in section 921(a) of title 18, 

23 United States Code.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS