A couple were jailed yesterday for selling guns online.

Zhou Xiaolan was sentenced to 12 years and his wife, Liu Nina, to 11 years by Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

The couple sold six guns, a number of air gun pellets and some gun accessories, the court heard. Prices ranged from a dozen yuan to more than 1,000 yuan (US dollars146).

Zhou, 31, a replica gun enthusiast, and Liu set up their Website after they bought a toy gun on the Internet in 2005.

The couple launched their site in May 2006, and usually sent goods by express delivery after negotiating a price with buyers by mobile phone, e-mail or Internet chat, the court heard.

The couple said they didn't know it was illegal to sell guns on the Internet. But the court didn't accept their argument since they had demonstrated through their extremely cautious approach to the gun trade that they knew it was illegal.

The court heard that one man, surnamed Xu, asked to buy a Polar Bear gun at the end of 2006 and contacted the couple at the cell-phone number listed on the Website.

When they met, Xu was given the number of a supermarket coin locker. He took the gun from the locker later, the court heard.

Police found three guns and about 600,000 rounds of ammunition in the couple's home.

(Shanghai Daily July 8, 2008)