Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Steep Decline in Firearms and Explosives Trade
Adjust font size:

The illegal production, possession and trade of explosives and firearms are declining, the Ministry of Public Security announced yesterday.

 

Compared with the same period of last year, the number of criminal cases involving explosives and guns dropped by 17.7 and 15.7 percent respectively from January to July. The ministry did not give exact figures. 

 

This sharp fall is attributed to the national crackdown on illegal possession and trade of explosives and firearms initiated on June 2, Yan Zhengbin, deputy director of the ministry's public security bureau, said at a press conference in Beijing.

 

As of Sunday, police had confiscated around 117,000 illegal guns, 2,445 tons of explosives, 4.81 million detonators, 3.37 million bullets and 2.62 million meters of blasting fuse since June, according to the ministry.

 

A total of 4,684 suspects are currently in custody, while 1,794 people have been charged and 920 transferred to public prosecutors.

 

China's Criminal Law stipulates that criminals selling guns or explosives are liable to sentences ranging from three years in jail to the death penalty.

 

Yan said the ministry would persevere with the crackdown. "We're confident that the number of these crimes will see another sharp decrease by the year-end."

 

Yan added that, compared with remote mountainous and border areas, big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai witness a small proportion of crimes involving explosives and firearms.

 

The production, sales and stockpiling of guns and explosives have been decreasing in China since 2001, but the problem is still "severe" in some areas and causes "constant accidents," ministry spokesman Wu Heping said at the beginning of the crackdown.

 

Meanwhile, since China tightened regulations on the management of explosives, unlicensed coal mines have resorted to illegal sources to secure dynamite, which "encourages the underground production and sales of explosives," Wu said.

 

The crackdown has received a warm response from the public. "It's a people's war," Yan said. "We've received 14,173 tips from public reports, and about 6,000 of them were very valuable."

 

(China Daily September 13, 2006)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read

Related Stories
Illegal Gun Factories Destroyed in Weapons Crackdown
Police Continue Their Gun Fight in Guangdong
Details Released on Illegal Firearms Crackdown
Shanxi Targets Illegal Explosives After Fatal Blast
Illegal Explosives Kill 47 in Shanxi Blast
Beijing Implements New Safety Rules on Explosive Storage
Crackdown to Target Illegal Guns, Explosives
104 Explosive Robbery Cases Reported in 2005
China Tightens Controls on Civil Explosives

Product Directory
China Search
Country Search
Hot Buys
SiteMap | About Us | RSS | Newsletter | Feedback
SEARCH THIS SITE
Copyright © China.org.cn. All Rights Reserved     E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-88828000 京ICP证 040089号