If your Xbox Live avatar is a gun-toting virtual killer, he may soon lose his right to bear arms. Or at least purchase further weapons. According to an Epic Games forum post, the Lancer and Hammerburst avatar items will be removed from the Xbox Live Marketplace on January 1, 2012 in accordance with a new Xbox Live policy that dictates the removal of “all gun-like avatar items on the Marketplace.”

This policy comes with a push to make the Xbox a more entertainment-centric and consequently more family-friendly system. If you already own a weapon for your avatar, you’ll still keep it. So get it while you can, before your virtual right to bear arms is infringed upon.