Police in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province has busted three suspects over illegal trade of replica guns on Chinese social media WeChat and confiscated 667 replica guns, media reported citing an announcement circulated on the the website of Xi'an People's Procuratorate.
The suspects may receive life imprisonment or be sentenced to death according to Chinese Criminal Law which stipulates illegally trading of over ten replica guns a severe crime, news portal the paper.cn reported on Tuesday.
The suspect, surnamed Liu, purchased numerous replica guns with money transferred on WeChat to another suspect surnamed Yang who delivered the replica guns through logistic companies from November 2016 to February 2017.
Liu and his accomplice surnamed Sun have advertised their replica guns sale on WeChat and sent the guns via ZJS express, a logistic company.
Four guns were identified to have been equipped with kinetic energy of over 1.8 joules per square centimeter.
Illegal firearm is defined as guns that are able to fire bullets with a specific kinetic energy of over 1.8 joules per square centimeter according to the stipulations released by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
China has a strict gun policy. According to the statement released by the Supreme People's Court, those who illegally trade over two but less than ten air guns will be detained for up to ten years in prison. Those who illegally trade over ten guns will receive life imprisonment or a death sentence.
