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Easy Guns Bring Wild West Mentality

ith firearm crime on the rise and the amount of illegal locally produced and smuggled weapons growing, there are concerns that a programme giving officials discounts in the name of self-protection is worsening the situation

Bangkok Post

18 November 2012

By Tunya Sukpanich

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…The issuance of gun permits is linked to house registration. For criminals there is the added bonus that guns bought on the black market can't be traced back to them. Some illegal firearms are cheaply produced locally by fly-by-night manufacturers, but most are foreign-made, either smuggled in, stolen or resold without registration.

…Among the firearms routinely seized by police are locally made Thai pradit, of which there are several types. Some pradit are extremely cheap and easy to produce, and in certain vocational schools the students reportedly make their own. One type of locally made shotgun costs about 2,000 baht.

In the old days, several villages in Uthai Thani province were known for producing good quality homemade guns. Due to a police crackdown more than 30 years ago, most villagers gave up the practice, but some continue.

In August, police raided a small factory in Uthai Thani producing pradit and high demand is reportedly keeping local gun makers busy in houses, shops and even national parks.

A temporary factory was found by accident in Doi Pha Klong National Park in Phrae province during an operation against forest encroachers.

In Chumphon and Satun provinces police arrested arms makers who confessed to producing and selling more than 1,000 shotguns and rifles during the past three years, saying as far as they know they were to be used for hunting and self-protection…

ID: N697

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