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"Sometimes, they would use motorcycles to surround the police, threatening them with AK47 rifles and grenades." Very, very unlikely. China has an almost comple
by steve19 11y ago
"Sometimes, they would use motorcycles to surround the police, threatening them with AK47 rifles and grenades."
Very, very unlikely. China has an almost complete ban on civilian ownership of firearms. The only exception is for rare hunting permits (there is very little hunting in China) and wildlife conservation. Even then traditional hunting tends to use blackpowder muzzle loaders (and they restrict ownership of black/gun powder)
They don't even allow regular cops to use useful firearms (they are issued a revolver that fires rounds with as much energy as a .22 LR ... enough to wound but not kill or even stop someone attacking police). They don't want the cops ever rebelling against the PLA.
The BBC wants us to believe that Chinese authorities allowed an armed militia to directly challenge law enforcement and did nothing about it for over a decade?
More likely that was just a story made up by bribed cops, cops who were shit scared of going into that village or cops/politicians who wanted extra credit for going into that village.
So I wonder how much else of this story is exaggerated by the journalist.
Fully automatic AK ownership, and even grenade ownership is fully legal in many or most US states, if you pay the required BATFE taxes and have the right permits (explosive storage permits for grenades) but so much wave one at a cop and you will be surrounded by armored cars and black helicopters sooner that you can blink.
- bcraven 11y agoI'm not sure the legalities of gun ownership would bother the members of an illegal drugs operation.
- sliverstorm 11y agoNot to mention, the very business of a drug cartel is literally smuggling illegal contraband into countries. They are some of the last people that outlawing guns is going to stop.
- vidarh 11y agoHe's not suggesting the legalities is the primary reason it sounds strange, but that the Chinese government appears to be less than likely to tolerate a criminal organization to have weapons that might allow it to become a threat, when they don't even allow the police access to similar weapons, much less civilians. I have no idea what situations are like with respect to weapons in China, so I have no idea whether he's right or not, but this is not just about the legality.
- titanomachy 11y ago> Grenade ownership is fully legal in many or most US states Do you have a source to back that up? I think you can own a grenade launcher, but I'm quite certain that grenades are very illegal... possibly excepting smoke grenades.
- steve19 11y agoSee the NFA Act. Each grenade is legally a separate destructive device. Some States outlaw destructive devices, but they are legal under Federal law (with appropriate permits). You don't see people with them because there are not many transferable grenades left in circulation. If you want to shoot a bunch out of a m203 launcher it's cheaper to go to Cambodia than exhaust US civilian stocks.