Undercover Agents Successfully Purchased AR-15 Automatic Riffle on Dark Web

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released the  outcome results of its undercover intelligence capability which mainly  involves attempts to purchase firearms and weapons on the famous darknet  markets with an intention of understanding what particularly happens on  the dark web. The attempted purchases and trades were made using a wide range of  scenarios designed to make the seller believe that the transaction would  be illegal. The dark web is not indexed by search engines, and its access is only  made possible through software like the Tor browser, which allows users  to browse the dark web without giving away their identity and the  location from where the browsing has taken place. This service is in  contrast to common standard browsers such as Firefox or Chrome. This  makes darknet markets a safe place for anyone with criminal intention as  Individual logins and transactions are masked. The undercover agent involved in the test said that with the aid and  anonymity of the dark web, Bitcoin is being used actively in the buying  and selling of illegal goods and services, especially drugs and  firearms. A series of attempts to buy firearms on the dark web and the surface  web were carried out by two undercover agents without disclosing whether  they were banned from handling firearms or not. Their operation was successful in two of eight attempts. In one of  the successful attempts, the agents purchased an Uzi semiautomatic AR-15  rifle, which had been listed as fully automatic on the dark web  marketplace. The purchased AR-15 rifle had an obliterated serial code  along with an Uzi, which the seller referred to as an automatic  modification. Firearm Trade on Darknet Markets
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released the outcome  results of its undercover intelligence capability which mainly involves  attempts to purchase firearms and weapons on the famous darknet markets  with an intention of understanding what particularly happens on the  dark web. According to the GAO’s report, the agents made a total of 78 purchase  attempts in which 58 sellers refused to complete the purchase process.  Interestingly, 31 of them categorically stated that they would not be  willing to ship a firearm, while 29 sellers refused after the agents  disclosed their identities as undercover government agents. In seven of  the attempts, the agents’ accounts were blocked by the websites and  henceforth prevented from accessing the marketplaces or attempting to  make any purchase on dark web. However, markets on the surface web gave excuses on their reason for  not allowing the agents to access their commodities. In these cases,  some of the sellers had even done a follow-up on the agents and realized  that they had been banned from arms usage. Furthermore, private seller websites that the GAO also used in their  research turned out to be scam sites, which did not leave the purchase  deals with the office halfway. Some of the websites contacted by GAO  refused to answer questions posed by the agency, or simply gave an  excuse that excluded them from selling the firearms to the agents  without disclosing their identity. Some sites simply blocked the  agency’s access to them. This made their efforts to follow up with the  purchases futile. In some cases, the sellers stopped replying to conversations; others  later said the gun was not for sale any longer, and others refused to  use legal accounts for the payment or had difficulties in payment. In  the other 11 attempts, the agents were scammed or an attempt to scam  them was in processes before they realized and stopped the transactions. Having noted that the dark web is an unindexed, hidden part of the  internet and that access to specific domains requires unique software to  gain access, the agents sent their report to law enforcers for further  investigation. Their report did not have any recommendation on what was  found, as the legal framework controlling the trade of weapons and  firearms does not cover transactions made on online platforms. The Response In 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives  (ATF) reported that the anonymity aspect of the dark web and Bitcoin  transactions makes it extremely difficult to completely stop and control  unlicensed firearms sales among other illegal trades on internet. However, Massachusetts officials have warned and promised to come up  with very strict laws and regulations regarding firearm possession in a  bid to reduce gun-related violence. These laws are nevertheless  jeopardized by more fair rules in neighboring states, since it is easy  to cross inter-state borders to buy firearms. This was confirmed by GAO, which stated their results indicated that  firearms are easily transacted across state borders using Bitcoin—the  AR-15 rifle being one of them.