World's largest small commodities market feels China's slowdown. (Photo : Getty Images)
A man from Hunan Province and surnamed Ye was arrested on suspicion of possessing an illegal firearm. Ye said that he bought the toy gun for his son on Taobao.
The toy gun was later identified as illegal as it was seen to use gunpowder. The Ministry of Public Security defines any weapon using gunpowder is illegal.
Huang Xiaoping, a procurator from the procuratorate of Tianyuan District in Zhuzhou, said, "According to the Criminal Law, possessing any gun that uses gun powder constitutes the crime of illegally possessing a firearm."
His case is similar to a 51-year-old Tianjin woman who was given three and a half years in jail. She was apprehended because police discovered the guns used at her balloon-shooting stall were considered firearms.
China has very strict rules for gun possession and the implementation of gun regulation has lowered the crime rate.
According to a top Cental Committee official, China's homicide rate was just 0.7 per 100,000 residents in 2014. Compared to the U.S., which is 3.8 per 100,000, China's crime rate is low.
The CIA World Factbook and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that China is at the bottom of a list of nations in terms of violent crimes and homicide.
In 1996, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Firearms Control was passed to control the sale of toy guns.
The law stated that "imitation guns are prohibited by law from being manufactured or sold."
However, the local governments tended to undermine the sale of toy guns and now are modifying their methods of implementation.
To date, toy guys are still easily purchased from websites such as the Guangdong Toy Association, China Toy Expo, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) or Alibaba.
