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.
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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)