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When it comes to buying illegal weaponry online, people often think of darkweb markets like the long-closed Silk Road, but it's actually far easier to get a hold of such items it seems, as Amazon sells most of them. As part of an investigation into the retailer's sales practices, it was found you could buy knuckledusters, stun guns and pepper spray right from Amazon.
They don't come from Amazon warehouses of course, but from the stores of smaller sellers who advertise their wares on the site. That doesn't make the items any more difficult to acquire though. In its report, the Guardian was able to purchase a pepper-spray shooting pistol, a stun-gun with a range of up to a metre (also disguised as a torch) and baseball cap that had a knuckleduster hidden in its peak.
They might be illegal in the UK, but these weapons are just fun and games overseas.
Although all items were purchased on the Amazon UK website, the baseball cap and stun-gun were both sent out from America and Israel, but that makes their illegality even more troublesome, since as well as breaking the law in owning them, the buyer has also imported them. Neither were stopped by customs though, with labels such as “toy,” seemingly preventing much investigation.
The pepper spray however, was shipped out of Milton Keynes, which means there's a stock pile of illegal pepper spray in the UK.
There were other items discovered – but not ordered – as part of the investigation, such as gloves with lead lining, a female-orientated “pink” pepper spray on a keyring and a lipstick casing with a small stun gun inside it. All are available on Amazon, despite the website's own terms and conditions claiming to prohibit the sale of such items.
When quizzed, the Home Office said that selling and buying these types of products was entirely illegal and can carry multiple year prison sentences, in some cases as many as 10.
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KitGuru Says: It's no surprise that this sort of stuff is available to buy online, but it is odd that it's as easy as popping to Amazon.
Wow, it’s illegal to own pepper spray in the UK? That seems strange to the guy from Texas…
How in the world is pepper spray illegal? It’s strictly a defensive weapon… Is defending your life illegal as well in the UK?
There have been a few well publicised instances in UK tabloids of people protecting their family and property & have been sent to prison !
Illegal here in Australia too. Heaven forbid people be able to defend an attack.
its classified an “illegal firearm” in the uk.
Wow. I didn’t know the UK was this much of a nanny state.
You don’t need weapons to defend yourself. Something America should take a long hard look at…
Strictly defensive? You could quite easily use pepper spray as an offensive tool.
Never had cause to use these things against someone and no one has ever had cause to use them against me. Quite happy with these circumstances as they are.
I can quite easily make it through my day without encountering anyone armed with offensive or defensive weaponry. I don’t see this as problematic.
This is a common misconception, even in America. The courts have recently validated that our gun laws are not about self defense, they’re about having the ability to depose despotic government.
I didn’t say anything about it being a problem. We just passed laws allowing any properly licensed person to openly carry a handgun, and for anyone (even unlicensed) who isn’t specifically forbidden (felons and period convicted of certain violent crimes) to openly carry rifles and shotguns. Coming from that context, this seems really odd… nothing more.
Likewise, vice versa. What a difference the pond makes. 😛
Yeah…good luck with that. I’m sure the folks with their tanks and drones are quaking in their boots.
Oh no! You’ve completely defeated 230 years’ worth of thought, law, and culture in a single sentence! I’m so disillusioned! I’ll go inform the President that we have to return to the British Crown… It sure is too bad this isn’t an old, well developed, position that’s been debated by intelligent people for thousands of years, or we might have uncovered this Achilles Heel sooner!
You are delusional. There are a dozen different ways you’d be in deep trouble if you didn’t have a weapon to defend yourself and merely not being armed, or at least the expectation that you aren’t, sets you up for an attack, being seen as an easy victim.
Perhaps what you meant was that you can ATTEMPT to defend yourself, but that is not the same thing as being successful at it. I can only assume that you only go out in public in SAFE areas and that’s not a bad strategy at all if you have no real way to defend yourself because MMA/etc is merely the fantasy of a young boy who watches too much TV or plays too many video games. You’d be MUCH better off running as fast as you can than to try that in a ghetto.
It shouldn’t seem odd when you consider that there are a lot more open spaces in the US. There are a lot of people who literally live so far away from others that there is no chance the police could get there in time to stop some types of problems, whether it be human or animal related, and there is still a lot of wild game in the US, enough that some areas kill deer or boar just to keep the population from getting out of hand.
Sure, but obviously crime does happen to random people at random times but not as random places. Most people who are victims didn’t see it coming, had a reasonable expectation they weren’t putting themselves in danger yet that doesn’t stop the boogie man from his agenda.
Thats why UK is doomed, I seen the Knifer attack video, how he was waving a knife and your pussy police was trying to calm him, he was cuting some poor soul and your pussy police did nothing.
In proper country he would of been shot 4 seconds after he took out his knife.
Londonistan is just the beginning and with your insane laws that you cant even own a pepper spray, these 3rd world savages gong to own you.
I heard that you have some policemen walking unarmed, thats a special level of stupidity.
You have one of the highest crime rates in EU, especially rape gangs.
You pussies cant even defend your daughters from paki predators.
Remind me again, How many US citizens were murdered by police in the US this year?
You make a great slave…good to see youve rationalized away the basic right to self defense…I sure hope knowbody you ever care about needs your protection…You types may be all to happy to submit, but leave my rights alone.
You should take a long hard look at your own situation. UK murder rates only take into account murder convictions. Your police find a body with no suspect…It doesn’t count towards your murder total. So your violent crime stats are misleading. American mass shootings are largely overblown to push and agenda. Also if your an adult male you and stay out of trouble you will be fine in both the US and the UK. This situation becomes more complicated if you have a family or are less physically capable. Don’t let your media fool you into thinking its the wild west over here because its not. Most people will never have to use lethal force in there lives me and you included. But if you ever in a situation that your required to use such force, you cant kill them with logic… You cant protect your home and family with solid debate points. Personally I am a single male and I look at like as long as i don’t cause trouble it probably wont find me…And I live in NYC which has already succumb to Victim Disarmament. But if i had a family I would be forced out and have to provide protection. If 2 men decided they were going to rob you with an ax….what would you do…
Irrelevant and most were shot for a reason, they have strict laws in USA.
Also it doesn’t have to be this way, its not kill everyone or be a pussy.
But if a criminal is HOLDING a weapon in his hands ANY WEAPON and he is not dropping it, he SHOULD be shot either by the police or the civilians.
Its incomprehensible that a criminal is waving a knife and 2 policeman instead of shooting him, stand there like a bunch of twats and talk to him.
In Israel they just shoot anyone holding a knife, and in most cases such attacks solved in seconds, any passer by that sees it shots to kill.
“Its incomprehensible that a criminal is waving a knife and 2 policeman
instead of shooting him, stand there like a bunch of twats and talk to
him”
It’s incomprehensible that the police would try to not kill someone, instead of killing them? In the UK we generally frown on killing people.
Wow, yep, being a racist, that’s how to get your point across.
Yes, it’s completely illegal to own a weapon in the UK under any circumstance. Obviously you can use a kitchen knife in your kitchen, but don’t carry one about with you in the street, likewise a baseball bat, fine on a baseball court, get it out in the street you’d be in trouble. Tasers, illegal, pepper
spray, illegal.
Yep, being an Ostrich WILL solve ALL your problems.
Sorry kid, but im realist.
Realistically violent crime rates are so low in the UK that it’s not something that anyone living here will ever likely experience or ever have to worry about. Worrying about being a victim of violent crime in the UK is on a par with worrying about how you’re going to spend your money when you win the lottery.
“If 2 men decided they were going to rob you with an ax for whatever reason….what would you do?”
Call the police. Seriously, I’d call the police.
You are a complete real life Ostrich, ill order you a special head-in-the-sand medal.
Or you just trolling us.
1. Rape Gangs: https://goo.gl/B2IlnM
2. Crime: compared to the “evil racist USA” total crimes per 1000: 110UK vs 42US
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/United-Kingdom/United-States/Crime
3. UK has a along standing custom of ‘no-criming’
Official Link (read the link name thats coming directly from your justice inspector): http://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/news/news-feed/victims-let-down-by-poor-crime-recording/
What is no-criming you ask?
No criming is the practice of writing off reported crimes as not constituting a crime – marking as “no crime”.
This is applied inconsistently across crimes and regions, frequently incorrectly, and at times fraudulently, for the purpose of improving statistics to secure promotion.
In the aggregate, in the period November 2012 – October 2013, an average of 19% of crimes reported to the police are not recorded, with one quarter of sexual crimes and one third of violent crimes not being recorded, with rape being particularly bad at 37% no-criming.
Reporting is inconsistent across local forces: “In a few forces, crime-recording is very good, and shows that it can be done well and the statistics can be trusted. In some other forces, it is unacceptably bad.”
The failure to properly record crime has been called “inexcusably poor” and “indefensible” by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor. Twenty percent of reviewed decisions to cancel a report were found to be incorrect, and in about a quarter of cases there was no record of victims being informed that their report had been canceled.
20% of a low crime rate is still a low crime rate (20% unrecorded crimes figure taken from the link you provided).
“”evil racist USA”- who are you quoting here? No-one has said or suggested this.
20% UNRECORDED Crime, the KEYWORD is UNRECORDED.
Add it on top of the RECORDED and the situation is MUCH worse.
Translation of what you just said: In the UK we generally frown from killing criminals, murderers and rapists.
Its a FREE FOR ALL BUFFET
You’re delusional.
Nine times out of ten… a criminal is going to have a weapon, most commonly a knife, and you’re saying you can take him on with your hands alone? I’ve been down this road discussion wise and it’s asinine to think you could defend yourself without a weapon when the other person does.
Could you likely defend yourself if they did NOT have a weapon? That depends entirely on whether you’ve had self defense training, or any kind of defensive training… which I can only assume it also illegal in the UK. /sarcasm
Sorry but as far as ‘that’ goes… I’m one of the people licensed to carry a weapon because of people like you.
Incorrect, what I actually said was ” In the UK we generally frown on killing in any and all circumstances”.