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Facebook is banning the sale of private guns on its social network, and the Instagram photo-sharing service, adding it to a list of already prohibited items including, marijuana, pharmaceuticals, and illegal drugs for sale.

The ban will apply to private, person-to-person sales of guns, and will not affect licensed gun dealers, gun clubs, or retailers who advertise on the site. The move is intended to cut down the transaction of unlicensed guns, the company announced on Friday.

Facebook first took steps to ban gun advertising to minors聽in 2014, in response to gun control advocates who long voiced their concerns that the Internet allows anonymous parties to sell guns without background checks, and that聽criminals, minors, and other prohibited gun purchasers can easily obtain firearms from these sellers.

Facebook said it has more than 1 billion active monthly users worldwide.

New York Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman, alongside other advocates, pushed Facebook to restrict illegal transactions, and prompted Facebook to delete posts from users selling illegal guns, including those who offered weapons for sale without background checks.

Gun control advocates cited a 2013 Third Way study 聽that said 鈥渢housands of guns, including so-called assault weapons, are for sale online and that many prospective buyers were shopping online specifically to avoid background checks,鈥� the Washington Post reported. The study focused on on Armslist.com, a popular classified site that facilitates private sales of firearms and ammunition based on location.

In announcing the measures, Facebook's Monika Bickert, head of Global Policy Management,聽wrote that its new policy would be a compromise between freedom of speech and safety. 鈥淭his is one of many areas where we face a difficult challenge balancing individuals鈥� desire to express themselves on our services and recognizing that this speech may have consequences elsewhere,鈥� she said in a blog post.

Facebook has not directly been involved in gun sales, but has served as a forum for gun sales, including, person-to-person sales. The company was not e-commerce site, and until recently, it was not possible to complete financial transactions on its social networks.

But last year, the company introduced new services that allows peer-to-peer payments through Messenger service, as well as a project that directs users to local businesses and services, according to New York Times.

Ms. Bickert said that Facebook鈥檚 progress towards e-commerce necessitated changes in its policy.

New York鈥檚 attorney 聽Schneiderman welcomed the move saying that it is 鈥渁nother positive step toward our shared goal of stopping illegal online gun sales once and for all.鈥�

Gun control advocacy groups, including Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, also praised the decision.

"We're gratified that our continuous conversation with Facebook over the course of the last two years has culminated in the company prohibiting all unlicensed gun sales arranged on its platforms," said John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, according to NBC news. "Our undercover investigations have shown that criminals are active in the online market for guns, where unlicensed sellers can offer guns with no federal background check required."