Beijing is tightening control on the storage and safe handling
of guns, ammunition, explosives and radioactive materials in a bid
to secure a safe Olympics in 2008, the capital's police chief said
Tuesday.
Beijing will no longer approve commercial shooting ranges and
hunting ranges, and sports authorities are required to reduce the
number of shooting ranges for training purposes and cut down the
number of guns, said Ma Zhenchuan, director of the Beijing
Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Museums and exhibition halls that fail to safely display weapons
must remove them, Ma said. Gun producers and sellers and
professional storing agencies of guns should reduce their guns and
ammunition, he said.
Private ownership of guns is forbidden in China. Meanwhile, guns
owned by organizations that are engaged in sport shooting should
not be increased, he said.
In the future, local police will only approve new state or
municipal storehouses for high risk explosives in the eight
districts of the city, and police will only approve explosive tests
within the city that are attached to necessary scientific and
teaching programs.
All the districts and counties administered by Beijing are also
ordered to cut down on the number of storehouses of explosives,
toxic chemicals and radioactive material, he said.
"If such dangerous articles (guns, ammunition, explosives and
radioactive material) are lost or stolen due to a lack of
management, the organizations and manager will prosecuted and their
permits revoked," Ma said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2006)