Explosives, weapons, and related items

Our policy is that you must comply with all applicable federal laws when selling weapons, imitation weapons, and weapon accessories.

You must also comply with state and local laws applicable to the jurisdiction into which your products are sold, as well as the jurisdiction from which you ship. For example, many state laws place requirements on size, color, and markings of imitation weapons.

In addition, you are responsible for obtaining any required licenses for permitted products and are liable for any penalties that result from non-compliance.

If you use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), go to FBA prohibited products for additional product restrictions.

The examples of permitted and prohibited listings below are not exhaustive, but should be instructive in evaluating products for listing and sale.

Ammunition

Amazon prohibits the listing or sale of firearm ammunition and ammunition components for assault weapons, black powder guns, handguns, muzzleloaders, pistols, shotguns, and rifles.

Examples of permitted listings

• Ammunition that does not contain lead or gunpowder, such as the following:
  • BB, air, pellet, and airsoft ammunition (these listings are subject to geographic sales restrictions)
  • Paintball gun paint pellets
  • Plastic non-explosive training aids, such as solid plastic ammunition

Examples of prohibited listings

• Firearm ammunition, such as the following:
  • Ammunition for pistols and rifles, including assault weapons
  • Slugs
  • Shotgun shells
  • Ballistic loads
  • Hollow point
  • Round balls
• Ammunition components, such as the following:
  • Black powder
  • Blanks
  • Bullets
  • Bullet tips
  • Casings
  • Gun powder
  • Primers
  • Smokeless powder

Explosives

Amazon prohibits the listing or sale of explosive devices and products that contain explosive materials.

Examples of permitted listings

• Flares designed for safety, emergency, or distress signaling purposes (these listings are subject to geographic sales restrictions, and are not eligible for sale through FBA).
• Plastic toy hand grenades

Examples of prohibited listings

• Explosives, such as the following:
  • Fireworks
  • Flares, flare launchers, flare guns, flare gun receivers
  • Grenades, such as the following:
    • Military practice grenades
    • Rifle grenades
    • Smoke grenades
    • Metal replica grenades
  • Grenade launchers
  • Improvised explosive devices, including training aids, accessories, and certain explosive precursors
  • Mines
  • Projectile and concussive products that employ gunpowder or explosives
• Certain products that contain explosive materials as prohibited by US laws and regulations, including but not limited to explosives, blasting agents, and detonators, such as ammonium nitrate and sodium nitrate explosive mixtures, as determined to be within the coverage of 18 U.S.C. 841, et seq.

Firearms

Amazon prohibits the listing or sale of all firearms, including assault weapons, black powder guns, handguns, muzzleloaders, shotguns, rifles, and starter guns.

Examples of permitted listings

• Replicas of firearms that were manufactured in or before 1898, if the replica is not capable of firing fixed ammunition

The following examples of permitted listings are subject to geographic sales restrictions:

• Airsoft guns
• Non-powdered weapons such as BB guns, pellet guns, paintball guns, and air rifles that are clearly marketed to be air or spring driven and identify the type of ammunition that the product discharges
• Toy guns

Examples of prohibited listings

• Firearms, such as the following:
  • 3D printed guns and 3D gun blueprints
  • Antique and collectible guns
  • Assault weapons
  • Automatic weapons (for example, machine guns)
  • Muzzleloaders and black powder guns
  • Rifles, shotguns, and handguns
  • Smartphone guns and other guns designed to resemble harmless items
  • Sport and hunting guns
  • Wallet guns
  • Zip guns
• Electronic guns
• Replicas of firearms that were manufactured after 1898 and are capable of firing fixed ammunition
• Non-firing replicas of firearms that were manufactured after 1898 and lack the markings required by 15 U.S.C. § 5001
• Toy, imitation, or "look-alike" firearms that do not have required markings, including cell phone cases and purses that resemble firearms

Firearm accessories

Amazon prohibits the listing or sale of certain firearm and imitation firearm accessories.

Examples of permitted listings

• Butt plates
• Fixed stocks, with the exception of thumbhole stocks
• Holsters
• Magazine floor plates and base plates
• Choke tubes without spikes
• Single picatinny or weaver rails
• Trigger guards
• Two point and traditional slings
• Vise blocks that are not intended for use with assault weapons

The following examples of permitted listings are subject to geographic sales restrictions:

• Grip extensions and magazine base pad extensions that do not add capacity and do not allow for the use of a higher capacity magazine
• Grips designed for handguns
• Grip attachments that enhance a shooter’s ability to hold or use a firearm
• Concealed carry holsters, belts, or straps
• Laser sights that are properly labeled with laser strength and class (with the exception of guide rod laser sights, which are prohibited)
• Heat suppressors for silencers
• Firearm shooting tripods, bipods, and shooting rests
• Magazine loaders, except for those that can accommodate the following calibers: .223/5.56; 7.62 x 51; 308; 7.62 x 39; and 5.45 x 39
• Reloading kits and equipment
• Scopes, including night vision or infrared scopes
• Suppressors or silencers that are permanently affixed to and are integral to the barrel of airsoft, air, and paintball guns

Examples of prohibited listings

• Assault weapon parts or accessories or products marketed as assault weapon parts or accessories, including any reference to assault weapons, such as cleaning mats printed with assault weapon diagrams
• Parts or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a firearm into an assault weapon
• Gun parts and accessories, even when designed or marketed for use with paintball, airsoft, or air guns, such as the following:
  • Assault weapon conversion kits
  • Assault weapon grips, forend grips, front grips, and foregrips
• Assault weapon and AR-specific tools, such as the following:
  • Vise blocks
  • AR-15 and M16 armorer’s wrenches or combo wrenches
  • Bullet button tools
• Auto sears, such as the following:
  • Full auto sears, also known as drop-in auto sear or DIAS
  • AR-15 auto sears
  • Auto sears II
• Barrels, barrel shrouds, barrel extenders, heat guards, hand guards, and vent cooling slots
• Battery assist levers
• Bayonet mounts and any device for attaching a bayonet to a firearm
• Camouflaging gun containers designed to fire without removing the gun from its container
• Charging handles, latches, and assemblies
• Detachable carry handles and assault rifle carry handles
• Ejection port, ejection port covers, and dust covers
• Frames
• Gas blocks, gas tubes, and gas pistons
• Certain grips and grip accessories, such as the following:
  • Pistol grips designed for attachment to an assault weapon, rifle, or shotgun
  • Folding, vertical, and tactical grips
  • Angled foregrips and ambidextrous foregrips
  • Grip pods, funnels, and extensions
  • Hand stops
• Door breachers
• Kits that can be used to create gun magazines
• Machine gun conversion kits and any part or combination of parts for converting a firearm into an automatic weapon
• Magazines and related items, such as the following:
  • Magazine components or extensions
  • Magazine cinches, couplers, connectors, dual mag holders, dual mag clamps and followers
• Magazine loaders that can accommodate the following calibers: .223/5.56; 7.62 x 51; 308; 7.62 x 39; 5.45 x 39
• Multi-rail systems, including quad rails and rail covers, and free-floating and drop-in handguards
• Muzzle brakes, also known as muzzle tamers
• Pistol stabilizing braces
• Pumkin punchers
• Recoil compensators
• Receivers, including lower and upper receivers
• Receiver extensions and pins
• Receiver wedges or buffers that tighten loose upper and lower receivers
• AR-specific jig kits
• Revolving cylinder for shotgun Selector levers, detents, and switches
• Single point and 3-point slings
• Sling plates and end plates intended for use with single point or 3-point slings
• Slide fire stock and weapons kits, such as bump firing devices, stocks, and kits
• Solvent trap oil filter adapters, solvent traps and homemade silencers, and component parts for solvent traps and homemade silencers
• Any non-fixed stock, including telescoping, folding, or collapsible stocks
• Silencers or suppressors, including the following:
  • Flash suppressors
  • Sound suppressors
  • Suppressors marketed or intended for airsoft, air guns, or paintball guns
  • Fake, mock, or faux silencers or suppressors
• Takedown pins, pivot pins, cam pins, and roll pins
• Threaded barrel adapters
• Thumbhole stocks
• Trigger activators, such as the following:
  • Multi-burst trigger activators
  • Trigger attachments
  • Devices that facilitate so called "bump-firing"
• All internal and moving gun parts, even when designed or marketed for use with paintball, airsoft, or air guns, such as the following:
  • Bolt catch releases, assemblies, actuators, and battery assist levers
  • Bolt carriers, bolt pins, and buffer pins
  • Buffer tubes, extension tubes, recoil buffers, and related parts
  • Firing pins, springs, and stops
  • Guide rods
  • Trigger, trigger assemblies, or fire control groups
  • Upgrade parts and replacement parts
  • Anti-walk pins
• Firearm production machinery

Knives and other bladed products

Amazon policy prohibits the listing or sale of certain knives, including switchblades, balisongs, stilettos, and some blades designed to look like harmless items.

Examples of permitted listings

• Typical hunting or kitchen knives, such as the following:
  • Hunting knives
  • Kitchen knives
  • Replica swords
  • Machetes
  • Claw knives or karambit knives
  • Throwing spears and knives

The following examples of permitted listings are subject to geographic sales restrictions:

• Umbrella knives
• Spring-assisted or assisted-opening knives that do not automatically extend

Examples of prohibited listings

• Automatic knives, also known as switchblade knives
• Balisong knives, also known as butterfly knives, including some training knives
• Concealed swords, including the following:
  • Cane-swords
  • Shobi-zue (a staff, crutch, stick, rod, or pole concealing a knife or blade within it)
  • Swordsticks
• Gravity or gravity-assisted knives
• Knives disguised to look like harmless items, such as the following:
  • Air gauge knives
  • Belt buckle knives
  • Comb knives or hairbrush knives
  • Lipstick case knives
  • Writing pen knives
• Knuckle knives, including fixed or folding blade knives with split knuckle duster handles :
• Pilum ballistic knives
• Push daggers, including the following:
  • Punch daggers
  • Punch knives
  • Push dirks
  • T-handled knives
• "Slasher" knives or other devices used in cockfighting
• Spring-loaded knives
• Stiletto knives
• Throwing stars, including the following:
  • Batman symbols
  • Cyclone knives
  • Kung Fu stars
  • Metal throwing stars
  • Ninja stars
  • Shirken
  • Throwing cards

Other products

Amazon prohibits the listing or sale of blunt force striking weapons, body armor, body armor plates, and other dangerous weapons or items that can be used as dangerous weapons.

Examples of permitted listings

• Nunchaku with sticks made completely of foam, sponge, rubber, or another bendable substance
• Koga and kubotan
• Night vision accessories
• Products with monkey fist knots that are made entirely of rope
• Spearguns for spear fishing
• Self-defense stinger tools
• Tactical pens
• Torches, torch kits, and lighters for use in cooking or outdoor maintenance
• Traps for small vertebrate animals, such as mice or rats

The following examples of permitted listings are subject to geographic sales restrictions:

• Blow guns
• Crossbows and other archery bows
• Handcuffs
• Pepper spray
• Slingshots, including wrist-brace slingshots.
• Stun guns or electroshock weapons

Examples of prohibited listings

• Body armor and any product including or designed for the insertion of body armor plates, which includes bulletproof or ballistic helmets and clothing
• Caltrops
• Certain martial arts items, such as the following:
  • Brass, plastic, or metal knuckles, including spiked keychains and rings or any product held over one’s knuckles that could be used to strike someone
  • Leaded canes, staffs, crutches, and sticks
  • Nunchaku, also known as nun chucks or chuka sticks
  • Sandclubs, sandbags, or slungshots (also known as saps or blackjacks)
  • Throwing stars, also known as shirkens or shurikens
  • Tonfas
  • Kusari-fundo, also known as manrikis
• Clubs and blunt force striking instruments, including items marketed for striking a person or animal, such as the following:
  • Billy, billy clubs, and police batons
  • Escrima sticks
  • Rattan canes (when designed or intended as a striking weapon)
  • Bo staffs and jo staffs
  • Truncheons, nightsticks, and batons
  • Sjamboks
  • Weighted clubs
  • Blackjacks
  • Bludgeons
  • Sap hats, also known as slap hats
• Flamethrowers and flame guns
• Starter guns, starter pistols, blank guns, and other similar items
• Steel-jaw style animal traps, including leg-hold traps, foot-hold traps, and body traps
• Weapons designed to be concealed
• Weapons or other items intended solely for law enforcement or military use

Additional useful information

• Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates the sale of many firearms and weapons.
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, which regulates the firearms and explosives industries.
• Annual List of Explosive Materials, which is a comprehensive list of explosive materials that have been determined to be within the coverage of Chapter 40.
• The Bureau of Political Military Affairs' Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is the organization within the US Department of State responsible for enforcing the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, 22 C.F.R. Parts 120-130. View items controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
• Federal Explosives Statutes 18 U.S.C.40 and 18 U.S.C.44, which contain additional rules that regulate and restrict many firearms and weapons.
• Importation of Arms, Ammunition and Implements of War, 27 C.F.R. 447, which contains additional rules that regulate and restrict firearms and ammunition and explosives.
• The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security administers the Export Administration Regulations, 15 C.F.R. Parts 730-744. The Bureau of Industry and Security has the licensing authority over the export and re-export of items that are considered to be dual-use. View items controlled under the Export Administration Regulations.
• US Postal Service, which regulates and restricts the transport of firearms, knives, ammunition, explosives and other items.
• New York's General Business Law - Imitation Weapons, which is an example of toy gun laws.
• California - Imitation Firearms and Minnesota - Replica Firearms, which are examples of imitation firearm packaging laws

Related Amazon Help Pages

• Additional information and resources for sellers about our Restricted Products policy
• Trade control laws
• Product compliance
• Categories and products that require approval
• Laser products
• Pest control products and pesticides

Last updated November 8, 2024