Criminals Are Using Dating Apps To Purchase Weapons

Federal officials are learning that guns are also being trafficked using social media platforms, including an app where you would more likely find a date than a Glock.

A new report on firearms trafficking from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms released earlier this month found that armed offenders are turning to the dating app Tinder to get their weapons.

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Alongside other social media apps like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, around 3.7% of guns from 2017 to 2021 were trafficked using this method. That is a larger percentage than what was found at gun shows, flea markets or auctions.

Only 1.6% were sold by licensed gun dealers.

“Gun stores and gun shows are not a major source of firearm trafficking,” Aidan Johnston of Gun Owners of America, told WTOP.

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Around 40% of weapons trafficked to violent criminals come from what's called a straw purchase. The ATF defines a straw purchase as buying a firearm for someone who is prohibited by law from possessing one, or for someone who doesn't want their name associated with it.

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“This happens a lot with convicts, where they’ll pressure a girlfriend or a boyfriend or whatever, to go into the gun store and purchase the firearm they want. It’s already illegal. And yet criminals do it,” Johnston said.

Another 40% were sold by unlicensed dealers, better known as a private sale, like when your neighbor sells you a weapon - it's not required to run a background check on the buyer in these sales.