Paypal Wouldn’t Prohibit Firearms Transactions If Peter Thiel Were Still Running It

By Lina Bryce

According to The Daily Caller, Co-founder and former CEO of PayPal Peter Thiel says if he was still running the company, purchasing firearms legally would be permitted through its online service. Thiel spoke at Freedom Fest at Planet Hollywood Saturday, debating Whole Foods CEO John Mackey.

PayPal’s policy currently “prohibits all account holders from buying or selling any type of firearm and certain firearm parts and ammunition”.

When asked about this policy, Thiel’s response received an applause, “I wouldn’t be doing that if I was still running it,” he said.

With Apple Pay and Square Reader also prohibiting purchasing firearms through their services, it leaves very little digital options for consumers who wish to purchase firearms.

One online firearm auction gunbroker.com, for example, stated the following on their page:

Unfortunately all of the major online payment services have banned firearm and ammunition payments. Using online payment services like PayPal could result in the payment being declined. The best payment service that we can recommend to use is the US Postal Service and the US Postal Money Order.

Thiel, who is a well-known libertarian, is currently promoting his new book Zero To One, a book that aims to help future entrepreneurs to look for new ways of thinking about innovation.