Ottawa-based online retailer Shopify (TSX: SHOP) has found itself in the crosshairs of the American gun lobby after it banned the sale of some firearms and accessories on its online platform.
Shopify quietly made changes to its policies earlier this week to keep its merchants from using its technology to sell everything from semi-automatic firearms that accept detachable magazines to accessories such as grenades, rocket launchers and flash and sound suppressors. The company said in a statement that the changes are part of regular reviews and amendments it makes to its terms and teased that it "may further refine our policies as needed."
The changes have gun manufacturers and retailers, who rely on Shopify for their online presence, up in arms. The U.S. gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), also took issue with Shopify’s move to ban some guns and accessories.
Florida-based firearm maker Spike's Tactical, which sells over 1,300 firearms-related products, said it runs its entire online operations through Shopify and claims to earn millions of dollars in sales through the platform each year. The move will have “significant ramifications” because Spike's Tactical will now have to find a new platform for online sales.
"To take someone's money and agree to services and then change your policy that dramatically overnight, potentially costs a bunch of businesses and people's jobs. It's just wrong," the company said in a news release. "We have about $100,000 wrapped up in our website and I expect we will have to invest that in a new business. We are a big enough company to absorb that, but there are a lot of smaller companies that will not be able to."
Casey Burke, the owner of Florida-based firearms retailer Southern Guns, said he too is frustrated because the company notified him about the changes in a three-line email Burke posted to Instagram with the hashtag reading #stopstupidity.
The gun sellers said Shopify has not provided clarity on how soon their businesses will have to stop selling firearms through the platform.
The policy change isn't Shopify's first brush with controversy south of the border. Last year, founder Tobi Lutke allowed right-wing media organization Breitbart to use his platform and argued that products are a form of free speech, which is worthy of defending.
