Steven Mace
03-20-2002, 05:44 AM
Wednesday 20 March 2002
WE BUY KILLER STUN GUN
By Gary Jones
POWERFUL stun guns are being smuggled into Britain from America - and The Mirror got hold of one for just £250.
The potentially deadly weapon, becoming popular with violent criminals, was handed over within 24 hours of putting in an order.
A dealer called Dean sold us the 300,000-volt gun in a pub as it was revealed violent crime is up by 26 per cent.
He said he had "knocked out dozens" of the weapons in recent weeks. And he was due to pick up another 12 of the guns - which can kill a child or people with heart problems - later that day.
Dean, in his late 20s, added: "I can't get enough of them."
The dealer, who works out of a London pub, was nervous about being arrested before his meeting with an investigator from The Mirror.
Wearing a red baseball cap and Polo shirt, he doubled back on himself several times.
When he finally arrived he said grimly: "The Old Bill are sh***ing themselves about these things.
"When you hit someone with one they go down and stay down.
"The boys tell me you are knocked out cold.
"The guns are perfect for muggings because no one knows what's hit them."
The illegal stun guns, which send an electric shock through the body when pressed against it, are popular with robbers.
They have been used in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.
The weapons, which are legal in America, temporarily paralyse victims.
Dean said he had used the gun himself on bus passengers holding on to a hand rail.
He added: "They didn't know what had hit them.
"They all fell down. That was nothing. Some people I know are nut cases and they get a kick out of seeing someone go down and not get up again."
Victims can also suffer a loss of memory.
Criminals are increasingly arming themselves with the guns because sentencing for possession is only months and not years as in the case of bullet-firing guns.
Last November a police officer told of the moment he was hit by a thug with a stun gun - which is about the same size as a mobile phone.
PC Dave Fisher said: "The pain was excruciating.
"The electricity was arcing into my body. It was a very, very strong electric shock.
"He pressed the gun against my neck at least four or five times."
Dave said he was temporarily paralysed by the gun's shock.
In America, a 50-year-old prisoner died after a guard shot him three times with a 50,000-volt stun gun.
Unlike bullets, knives, or clubs, the weapons leave no evidence of the attack.
Dean also said criminals are using stun guns to dish out retribution to their enemies.
After The Mirror bought the weapon from the dealer he was stopped by police during a routine check. We have passed on a dossier of his details, and the stun gun, to police.
CID officer Mark Lakey said: "The Mirror is doing a great service taking this weapon off the streets."
Scotland Yard has recently recovered 11 of the weapons.
A spokesman said: "Possession would not be seen as a major thing. But if used to commit a crime that's a different issue."
It is easy to obtain a stun gun over the internet in the US for as little as £30.
Customs chiefs admit they are battling to stem the import of the guns. Many have been found by officers searching for suspicious packages at postal depots.
A Customs spokesman said: "Well over 90 per cent of all weapons smuggled into this country come via mail-order.
"We're aware stun guns are coming into Britain in increasing numbers.
"It is causing concern. They are dangerous and potentially deadly if a child, or person with a heart problem, was attacked with one."
Courts hand out relatively minor sentences for possession or use of a stun gun.
Rapper Mark Morrison was jailed for three months for carrying one.
Last year two steelworkers were locked up for zapping their boss in the testicles with a 30,000 volt stun gun. One got 15 months for the attack.
A US website graphically describes the effects of stun guns on humans.
It says: "A half-second shock causes muscle spasms and a dazed state of mind.
"A five second stun gun shock can leave the attacker feeling as if he fell out of a two-storey building and landed on a concrete sidewalk.
"The stun gun is designed to key into the nervous system. It interrupts the tiny neurological impulses that travel through the whole body to control and direct voluntary muscle movement."
And the only warning to users is: "Stun guns are a great protection device but they are not toys and should be treated as such."
British police could soon be equipped with the weapons.
Research is being carried out into the effects of Taser guns that temporarily paralyse by firing two small darts which deliver a shock.
But Amnesty International spokesman Brendan Paddy warned against arming officers with the guns.
She said: "People have died after being shot by these.
"There has not been any independent testing of them. A debate is raging here about how useful they are."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=11711162&method=full&siteid=50143
Steve Mace
WE BUY KILLER STUN GUN
By Gary Jones
POWERFUL stun guns are being smuggled into Britain from America - and The Mirror got hold of one for just £250.
The potentially deadly weapon, becoming popular with violent criminals, was handed over within 24 hours of putting in an order.
A dealer called Dean sold us the 300,000-volt gun in a pub as it was revealed violent crime is up by 26 per cent.
He said he had "knocked out dozens" of the weapons in recent weeks. And he was due to pick up another 12 of the guns - which can kill a child or people with heart problems - later that day.
Dean, in his late 20s, added: "I can't get enough of them."
The dealer, who works out of a London pub, was nervous about being arrested before his meeting with an investigator from The Mirror.
Wearing a red baseball cap and Polo shirt, he doubled back on himself several times.
When he finally arrived he said grimly: "The Old Bill are sh***ing themselves about these things.
"When you hit someone with one they go down and stay down.
"The boys tell me you are knocked out cold.
"The guns are perfect for muggings because no one knows what's hit them."
The illegal stun guns, which send an electric shock through the body when pressed against it, are popular with robbers.
They have been used in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.
The weapons, which are legal in America, temporarily paralyse victims.
Dean said he had used the gun himself on bus passengers holding on to a hand rail.
He added: "They didn't know what had hit them.
"They all fell down. That was nothing. Some people I know are nut cases and they get a kick out of seeing someone go down and not get up again."
Victims can also suffer a loss of memory.
Criminals are increasingly arming themselves with the guns because sentencing for possession is only months and not years as in the case of bullet-firing guns.
Last November a police officer told of the moment he was hit by a thug with a stun gun - which is about the same size as a mobile phone.
PC Dave Fisher said: "The pain was excruciating.
"The electricity was arcing into my body. It was a very, very strong electric shock.
"He pressed the gun against my neck at least four or five times."
Dave said he was temporarily paralysed by the gun's shock.
In America, a 50-year-old prisoner died after a guard shot him three times with a 50,000-volt stun gun.
Unlike bullets, knives, or clubs, the weapons leave no evidence of the attack.
Dean also said criminals are using stun guns to dish out retribution to their enemies.
After The Mirror bought the weapon from the dealer he was stopped by police during a routine check. We have passed on a dossier of his details, and the stun gun, to police.
CID officer Mark Lakey said: "The Mirror is doing a great service taking this weapon off the streets."
Scotland Yard has recently recovered 11 of the weapons.
A spokesman said: "Possession would not be seen as a major thing. But if used to commit a crime that's a different issue."
It is easy to obtain a stun gun over the internet in the US for as little as £30.
Customs chiefs admit they are battling to stem the import of the guns. Many have been found by officers searching for suspicious packages at postal depots.
A Customs spokesman said: "Well over 90 per cent of all weapons smuggled into this country come via mail-order.
"We're aware stun guns are coming into Britain in increasing numbers.
"It is causing concern. They are dangerous and potentially deadly if a child, or person with a heart problem, was attacked with one."
Courts hand out relatively minor sentences for possession or use of a stun gun.
Rapper Mark Morrison was jailed for three months for carrying one.
Last year two steelworkers were locked up for zapping their boss in the testicles with a 30,000 volt stun gun. One got 15 months for the attack.
A US website graphically describes the effects of stun guns on humans.
It says: "A half-second shock causes muscle spasms and a dazed state of mind.
"A five second stun gun shock can leave the attacker feeling as if he fell out of a two-storey building and landed on a concrete sidewalk.
"The stun gun is designed to key into the nervous system. It interrupts the tiny neurological impulses that travel through the whole body to control and direct voluntary muscle movement."
And the only warning to users is: "Stun guns are a great protection device but they are not toys and should be treated as such."
British police could soon be equipped with the weapons.
Research is being carried out into the effects of Taser guns that temporarily paralyse by firing two small darts which deliver a shock.
But Amnesty International spokesman Brendan Paddy warned against arming officers with the guns.
She said: "People have died after being shot by these.
"There has not been any independent testing of them. A debate is raging here about how useful they are."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=11711162&method=full&siteid=50143
Steve Mace