Authorities in Japan have raised the alarm over Chinese-made toy pistols being sold online that tests show can fire live ammunition with lethal force, raising fresh concerns in a country known for its strict gun control.
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The National Police Agency confirmed that 16 toy gun models found on e-commerce websites are capable of causing death or serious injury, the Asahi newspaper reported on Saturday.
Although marketed as toys and packaged with plastic bullets, police testing revealed that the models could discharge live rounds with power comparable to genuine handguns – weapons whose possession is heavily restricted under Japanese law.
Authorities said that as of March, around 30 people have been arrested for possessing these guns since police issued initial warnings in November 2023.
Around 1,100 units have been confiscated, with police continuing efforts to recover others already sold.
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While there have been no confirmed cases of these guns being fired as weapons, there has been at least one incident in which a person was threatened with one of the toy models, Nippon TV reported.