Toy/Replica guns fall into the same category of "as dangerous as
a paperweight until you decide to clock somebody on the head with
it."
Yet, most nations incl. Australia has legislation that equates
robbery with a replica as being equivalent to robbery with an
actual weapon.
Not too hard to imagine this being used for a robbery attemp on a
bank or armoured car.
And military surplus? Go sniffing around Singapore and
you can pick up quite a bit of it without any issues and for a real
cheap price as well! Too bad that git didn't keep his Matador find
under wraps until it was a better time to wave it around in a
bar.
But military surplus you can pick up in Singapore does not
include weapons or munitions or even parts thereof ... ?
Anyway, the git should have applied for his license pronto as IINM
he wanted it for his theatre group?
"Only armourers, theatre groups
and other legitimate persons who applied for a replica permit were
permitted to hold the weapons."
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21025109-953,00.html
The real issue isn't the Matador getting found I
suppose, it's about if other potentially sensitive pieces of
equipment ending up in the wrong hands through the same channels.
And I think heads on the Singapore side are going to roll if any
bit of a fault is found, given the way the SAF treats these kinds
of things.
Agree, the real issue isn't the Matador being found, whichever
of the 2 possibilities you look at ...
i) An SAF soldier improperly disposed of it and the shortfall was
not reported by the Ammo i/c
ii) The sub-contractor did not dispose of it as per contract
It still points to a failure of accounting/audit on the part of the
SAF that does provide a loophole for "other potentially sensitive
pieces of equipment ending up in the wrong hands through the same
channels."
