Crackdown on personal safety devices

CUSTOMS officers have warned people tempted to import personal security devices that they could be putting themselves in danger of a criminal record.

In the past few years, officials have confiscated stun guns, alarm pistols, pepper and mace sprays and various types of discreet but potentially lethal pocket and purse knives marketed as self-defence aids.

Among the items seized this year were 14 stun guns, a BB pistol for firing plastic ball bearings, an alarm pistol, an extendable baton and various knifes and air guns.

Last year, officers also found 12 Kubaton knives — a narrow blade designed to fit inside a pen-sized casing — as well as noxious gas aerosol sprays and numerous Batman blades, which are shaped in the insignia of the comic book hero and look like a piece of movie memorabilia.

The previous year, 79 nunchakus — the eastern martial arts weapon made popular in the west by action actors like Bruce Lee — were also discovered in a single seizure. These finds were quite separate from the more obviously sinister seizures of machetes, crossbows, flick knives and hand guns, which were also made each year.

Revenue Commissioners spokesman Denis Harkin said that regardless of the intentions of the importer, all the items were considered equally illegal under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990.

“The majority of the offensive items come in parcels through the post. We would always confiscate them, no matter who is bringing them in, and we notify the local gardaí of the addressee so that they can proceed whatever way they see fit.”

Various internet chat rooms reveal exchanges between people who have tried to import an item for their own use here or to give to a female relative and were stunned to have gardaí raid their home.

Such items are readily available in the United States where manufacturers have created designs specially geared towards women. Taser, which makes the electrode-firing Taser gun, recently launched a pocket sized range in fashion colours while a stun gun designed to look like a tampon is also on the market.

While most of the larger online suppliers will not ship outside the US, some eBay sellers and German suppliers will ship anywhere in Europe with the onlydisclaimer that it is up to the purchaser to check the law in their own state.

“They may ship these items to you but that doesn’t mean it’s legal for you to have them,” Mr Harkin warned. “Some probably do get through but our people would get to know the websites and the packaging and labelling used in postage and it gets easier to detect offensive items.”

Anyone found guilty of possession of an illegal weapon at district court level can be fined up to €1,000 and jailed for up to a year. Conviction in the circuit court carries a prison sentence of up to five years.

“I don’t think there has been any prosecutions yet for people who genuinely wanted an item for personal safety reasons but that’s what could happen to them. People should think before they buy,” said Mr Harkin.