Tighter controls on the sale of replica guns should be introduced, a judge said yesterday as he sentenced a gun enthusiast who kept genuine gun parts along with imitations of weapons used in James Bond films.
Engineer Lee Wing-toa, 35, who pleaded guilty last month to importing strategic commodities and possessing arms and ammunition without a licence, was fined $20,000 and ordered to perform 150 hours of community service.
District Court judge Alan Wright expressed his concern over the easy access to replica guns in Hong Kong toy shops.
'The defendant can openly purchase these items without being asked a question . . .' he said and urged restrictions on the sale of such firearms in Hong Kong.
Lee, who described himself as a 'gun freak', kept five replica guns, which cannot be fired, and was particularly fond of several 'stylish' pistols, as the same models had been shown in James Bond films, the court had been told.
The prosecution said Lee's gun collection had been discovered on April 8 last year when various genuine gun parts he ordered from Germany were sent to him.