Guns illegal? Make 'em yourself

A father and son who supplied criminals with deactivated guns along with "kits" to convert them into live, usable weapons, have each been jailed for seven years.

William Greenwood, 76, and Mitchell Greenwood, 42, from South Wingfield, Derbyshire, sold hundreds of guns. They were found guilty in January and were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday. . .

The court was told that during an undercover operation between 1998 and 1999, the Greenwoods sold a detective an array of sub-machine guns and pistols. They had once joked that if he bought 10 French-made MAB handguns he would be given one free.

From the BBC.

HERE IS a bit more:

In total, it is believed 4,000 weapons made their way from the Greenwoods onto the streets and into paramilitary arms stores.

The firearms, including automatic pistols, machine guns and assault rifles, had been deactivated and deemed safe under current Home Office legislation, but were quickly and cheaply converted back to their lethal state with the help of the former egg salesmen.

Police first raided the Greenwood's home and workshop in 1994, finding a large cache of Uzi sub-machine guns, AK47 assault rifles and automatic pistols. Officers also found a bazooka propped up against a fridge, as well as ammunition.

The pair received suspended jail sentences for the illegal possession of firearms, but instead of disposing of their stock, as ordered by the court, they advertised the now deactivated guns in trade magazines - along with the means to reactivate the weapons.

Suspended sentences! And their hoard of weapons wasn't confiscated!? So much for Britain's strict gun laws.

Posted by David on March 25, 2004 5:37 PM