Society
Roll up! Get your stun guns here
Published 03 October 2005
Observations on arms
Between 13 and 16 September, the arms fair Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) took place in London's Docklands. The organisers said it was not an arms bazaar and the Daily Telegraph wrote that it was "all very different from the bad old days when electric shock batons were quietly flogged to men in sunglasses from repressive third world regimes".
The paper should try that old journos' technique of "looking". Banned electro-shock weapons were on offer at the fair from three companies, while a fourth, Rheinmetall, was promoting electro-shock research and development.
TAR Ideal Concepts, an Israeli company, offered banned stun equipment and leg-irons in its brochures, and was keen to meet my arms-dealing alter ego to discuss a deal. Imperial Armour's HQ in Durban quoted me a price for stun batons and offered a meeting at the fair to discuss a purchase of stun weapons, on 12, 13 and 15 September. Another South African company, Global Armour, also offered stun guns in its literature. Global Armour and TAR Ideal were thrown out of the fair and are being investigated by customs authorities.
To illustrate the availability of electro-shock equipment at DSEi, I took the liberty of making an inquiry on behalf of Malcolm Wicks, minister at the Department of Trade and Industry. Under his name, I visited the website Army Technology (owned by SPG Media), an industry "community site" which provides information on arms manufacturers and an introductory service over the internet.
Wicks will be pleased to know that Army Technology has forwarded his request for information on stun-gun prices to Huajin, a Chinese company whose electro-shock weapons are shown on the UK-run site. So good luck with the stun baton deal, Mr Wicks!
Correction: Due to an editing error, Mark Thomas's article last week referred to an e-mail from Imperial Armour dated 20 September. That should have been 12 September.
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