The Shilin District Court on Tuesday sentenced Liao Ying-hsi (廖英熙), owner of airsoft gun manufacturer G&G Armament, to two years and eight months in jail for violation of the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例).
The case stemmed from 2015, when police seized an airsoft gun model G960 and ammunition and forwarded it to the Criminal Investigation Bureau for further analysis.
The bureau concluded that if metallic bullets were used and the gun were equipped with a 22kg canister of gas, the bullets would exit the gun with between 24 and 32 joules of kinetic energy.
Photo: courtesy of Liao Ying-hsi
Liao was indicted by prosecutors, as the results exceeded the legal threshold of 20 joules.
During court hearings, Liao said that products made by his company were in full accordance with regulations for toy guns as written by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which state that the standard for gauging the level of danger for toy guns is based on the pellets — non-spherical bullets for air guns — which must not be made of metal, should not be injected with liquids and must be used with the propellant suggested by the manufacturer.
G&G Armament specifically recommended that users load the gun with 12kg gas canisters.
Liao had the same gun tested by the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau, which found that the product met regulations.
However, the presiding judge ruled that the economics ministry’s regulations and the act were two separate matters.
The judge said G&G Armament’s gun met the definition of “gun” as specified in the act: “Any sort of equipment that can shoot metals or bullets and has the capability of damaging or injuring others.”
The capability of causing harm should be judged according to “the maximum capability” and there was nothing wrong with testing G&G Armament’s product using the most powerful propellant on the market, the judge said.
While the company has explicitly stated that users should outfit its products with 12kg canisters and warned people not to use metal pellets, 20kg canisters and metal pellets are easily obtainable on the market and would therefore make the G960 product dangerous, the ruling said.
Liao said he was surprised at the ruling and that he would launch an appeal due to the different standards used by police and the ministry, adding that the government should seek to unify such standards as soon as possible, or the majority of Taiwan’s airsoft gun manufacturers would be forced to leave the nation.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it