The Detroit Free Press and Detroit News announced they will no longer accept advertisements for handguns in the classified sections of the newspapers.

The newspapers will continue to accept classified ads for long guns — rifles and shotguns. Both newspapers share a common advertising department operated by Detroit Newspapers Inc. under a joint operating agreement.

The Detroit newspapers changed their classified advertising policy following a meeting with the National Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole and local Million-Mom March chapters last December.

“The issue is not the guns but the process,” said John Johnson, coordinator of the campaign. “Unlike gun sales through licensed firearms dealers, there are no background checks on private gun sales through the classifieds.”

The campaign is asking newspapers across the country to voluntarily stop taking classified ads for firearms from unlicensed sellers. The campaign is not opposed to newspapers taking classified ads for firearms from federally licensed firearms dealers because licensed dealers are required to conduct criminal background checks on all buyers. The National Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole began 14 months ago.

The Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald, Sandusky (Ohio) Register, Willoughby (Ohio) News-Herald, the Denver Post and (Denver) Rocky Mountain News have all changed their classified advertising policy on firearms.