In the tweet shared on Monday, February 21, Matt Rivera said: “Last week, my 2-year-old son found this in the bedroom closet of our @Airbnb rental.
“We asked for the gun to be removed, but they never came to take it. We sent in a picture to Airbnb to alert them, but so far, they're ‘still investigating.”
Last week, my 2 year old son found this in the bedroom closet of our @Airbnb rental.
— Matt Rivera (@rivera) February 21, 2022
We asked for the gun to be removed but they never came to take it.
We sent in a picture to Airbnb to alert them, but so far they're"still investigating." pic.twitter.com/7nhB7Js50u
Rivera also attached pictures of the gun, which looks to be an air rifle that was stored in the closet beside two yoga mats. From a second image, it appears he removed the weapon from the living area into the garage.
According to the Airbnb rules concerning weapons, their ‘Standards & Expectations’ require that all weapons that are present at a listing be properly stored and secured. “If a weapon is in plain sight or discoverable by guests, hosts are required to indicate its presence in their house rules. Guests are also required to provide notice of and obtain consent for any secured weapons prior to booking and should use the messaging feature to do so.”
In his message, he addressed the official Airbnb Twitter account, and the company's customer service account responded. “Hi Matt, thank you for bringing this to our attention,” said @AirbnbHelp. “We understand the gravity of the situation and would like to look into this for you. Could you DM us the email address associated with the Airbnb account? Thank you.”
Hi Matt, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We understand the gravity of the situation and would like to look into this for you. Could you DM us the email address associated with the Airbnb account? Thank you. https://t.co/WCQEFGIlXC
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) February 21, 2022
In a statement issued to The Independent, Airbnb said that the listing was removed early Sunday afternoon, prior to Rivera’s tweets. “Our policies strictly prohibit any unsecured weapons in listings — including air guns. As a result, we took action to remove this listing from Airbnb and have been working to support Mr Rivera and Ms Hunt,” said the spokesperson.
By Tuesday, the tweet had already garnered over 8000 likes and 1600 retweets. Some people claimed the “BB gun” was harmless, while others agreed that a weapon of any sort should be locked away or removed from the rental.
It’s a BB gun. I had one when I was 5. Calm down.
— Don’t Tread On Me (@PolyandS) February 21, 2022
It’s amazing the amount of vitriol directed at the poster. The fact that it was “just a pellet gun” is not the issue; it is the fact that a potentially dangerous item was readily available to a child. Not everyone can identify every type of item that can shoot a projectile.
— Cynthia Roseberry (@lilymarietta) February 21, 2022
According to information on the Airbnb website, accepted types of secure storage for weapons include “locked cases or cabinets and visible locking devices are acceptable storage options. Additionally, the reiterated that. “secured storage must guarantee that only authorized users have access.”