Steven Mace
02-13-2002, 01:31 AM
February 13, 2002
Police find illegal lethal air guns sold on Internet
Yomiuri Shimbun
M29 air guns, the production of which was suspended 16 years ago due to worry that they could kill people, are currently being sold via Internet auction sites, and have been seized lately by police in increasing numbers, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
The air guns were banned shortly after they were put on the market, but several hundred of the guns are estimated to be in the hands of the public, an MPD official said.
"Possessing a toy gun that is potentially lethal constitutes a crime. We want those who possess these guns to report them to police," the official said.
M29s were produced in 1986 by the Tokyo-based firm Kokusai Sangyo and modeled on the .44 Magnum, a gun made by the U.S. company Smith & Wesson, that was used in the U.S. "Dirty Harry" film series.
An air gun is a toy that fires plastic bullets using compressed air, and usually does not hurt people seriously unless they are hit in the eye.
However, it was found that M29s could fire live ammunition, which could penetrate a two-centimeter-thick cedar board, when fired at point-blank range.
Police determined that the toy gun could wound or kill people without being remodeled. However, about 7,000 to 8,000 of the guns had already been sold before production was suspended a month later.
According to the MPD, the number of M29s seized by police has been increasing since around 1999, when a major search engine started an Internet auction service.
In the past, M29s were sold illegally only among gun collectors. However, the MPD seized 12 of the air guns in 2000 and 20 last year, included those sold on Internet auctions, which are easily accessible even to those who are not gun collectors.
The guns were first sold for 9,000 yen, but can now command prices of up to 30,000 yen.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020213wo23.htm
Steve Mace
Police find illegal lethal air guns sold on Internet
Yomiuri Shimbun
M29 air guns, the production of which was suspended 16 years ago due to worry that they could kill people, are currently being sold via Internet auction sites, and have been seized lately by police in increasing numbers, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
The air guns were banned shortly after they were put on the market, but several hundred of the guns are estimated to be in the hands of the public, an MPD official said.
"Possessing a toy gun that is potentially lethal constitutes a crime. We want those who possess these guns to report them to police," the official said.
M29s were produced in 1986 by the Tokyo-based firm Kokusai Sangyo and modeled on the .44 Magnum, a gun made by the U.S. company Smith & Wesson, that was used in the U.S. "Dirty Harry" film series.
An air gun is a toy that fires plastic bullets using compressed air, and usually does not hurt people seriously unless they are hit in the eye.
However, it was found that M29s could fire live ammunition, which could penetrate a two-centimeter-thick cedar board, when fired at point-blank range.
Police determined that the toy gun could wound or kill people without being remodeled. However, about 7,000 to 8,000 of the guns had already been sold before production was suspended a month later.
According to the MPD, the number of M29s seized by police has been increasing since around 1999, when a major search engine started an Internet auction service.
In the past, M29s were sold illegally only among gun collectors. However, the MPD seized 12 of the air guns in 2000 and 20 last year, included those sold on Internet auctions, which are easily accessible even to those who are not gun collectors.
The guns were first sold for 9,000 yen, but can now command prices of up to 30,000 yen.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020213wo23.htm
Steve Mace