“Shoot me with them!” Teenager jailed for buying toy guns shouts in court
Liu Dawei, 18, may spend the rest of his life in prison after the pronouncement of a Chinese court sentencing him for the purchase of 24 gun replicas through a Taiwanese website.
The judge claimed he was been lenient to have sentenced Liu to life in prison. He said if the teenager didn’t have a pretty face, he would handed him the death penalty.
Liu had made the order since July 2014, paying as much as $4,600 to possess the fake firearms.
As he patiently awaited the delivery, he got more than he bargained for when the police arrived at the front door of his home in Quanzhou city.
After seizing his mail order, they proceeded to arrest him for arms trafficking.
The police released an official statement explaining that they “had intercepted his package and found that 20 of the 24 gun replicas were actually real guns.”
According to Chinese law, any weapon with a barrel that can fire an object at 1.8 j/cm2 is a real gun.
Liu’s explained he had no idea he would be breaking the law when he ordered the replicas, and that he thought he was merely buying a bunch of toys. His lawyer also questioned the country’s current definition of an actual firearm. But those couldn’t save the teenager from the sentence.
After the pronouncement, Liu in is reaction shouted: “Please shoot me dead with the guns I bought! If I die, I’ll admit I’m guilty.”
The judgement has stirred public debate across the Asian continent regarding the need to re-evaluate and redefine the standard for judging what qualifies as a real gun.
Liu has since appealed the court’s decision up to the Fujian Higher People’s Court..
