Post by musicradio77 on Oct 14, 2005 19:32:04 GMT -5
Arsenal, even without stun guns
By TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Online auction giant eBay is cracking down on the sale of illegal stun guns to New York residents - but there's plenty of other dangerous items still up for grabs.
Razor-sharp throwing stars and hardwood nunchucks are just some of the weapons available to the highest bidder on the Internet marketplace, the Daily News found.
Pepper spray, brass knuckles and realistic-looking toy guns are also outlawed in New York, but there are hundreds for sale on eBay.
The company said it can't be held responsible if one of its sellers ships a product to a buyer in a state where it's banned.
"It has always been the seller's obligation," spokesman Hani Durzy said.
But eBay did take new steps to block sellers from shipping stun guns to New York after a probe by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Acting on a tip, investigators posed as ordinary consumers and bought 16 of the electronic weapons, which deliver paralyzing shocks to their targets.
After Spitzer's office contacted eBay, the company implemented a new monitoring system that will flash a pop-up warning to any New York buyer bidding on a stun gun.
In addition, eBay sent letters to its stun-gun sellers, reminding them that sale and possession of the weapons in New York and six other states is against the law.
Policing eBay sales can be difficult because laws vary from state to state. For instance, a seller can hawk pepper spray to buyers in Georgia, but not in New York.
But even items that are outright banned by eBay are easily found on the site - such as throwing or ninja stars and replica hand grenades.
Durzy said that with 55 million listings, eBay can't review every item for sale and depends on members of its "community" to rat out the transgressors.
"We have a good relationship with law enforcement," he insisted. "Can people try to do dumb or illegal things on eBay? Yeah, but they'll probably get caught."
After being told of the other weapons on the Web site, Paul Larrabee, a spokesman for Spitzer's office, said probers may not stop with cracking down on the sale of stun guns.
"We review all matters that come to our attention and if there are other illegal items for sale on the Internet, we will look into it," he said.
By TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Online auction giant eBay is cracking down on the sale of illegal stun guns to New York residents - but there's plenty of other dangerous items still up for grabs.
Razor-sharp throwing stars and hardwood nunchucks are just some of the weapons available to the highest bidder on the Internet marketplace, the Daily News found.
Pepper spray, brass knuckles and realistic-looking toy guns are also outlawed in New York, but there are hundreds for sale on eBay.
The company said it can't be held responsible if one of its sellers ships a product to a buyer in a state where it's banned.
"It has always been the seller's obligation," spokesman Hani Durzy said.
But eBay did take new steps to block sellers from shipping stun guns to New York after a probe by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Acting on a tip, investigators posed as ordinary consumers and bought 16 of the electronic weapons, which deliver paralyzing shocks to their targets.
After Spitzer's office contacted eBay, the company implemented a new monitoring system that will flash a pop-up warning to any New York buyer bidding on a stun gun.
In addition, eBay sent letters to its stun-gun sellers, reminding them that sale and possession of the weapons in New York and six other states is against the law.
Policing eBay sales can be difficult because laws vary from state to state. For instance, a seller can hawk pepper spray to buyers in Georgia, but not in New York.
But even items that are outright banned by eBay are easily found on the site - such as throwing or ninja stars and replica hand grenades.
Durzy said that with 55 million listings, eBay can't review every item for sale and depends on members of its "community" to rat out the transgressors.
"We have a good relationship with law enforcement," he insisted. "Can people try to do dumb or illegal things on eBay? Yeah, but they'll probably get caught."
After being told of the other weapons on the Web site, Paul Larrabee, a spokesman for Spitzer's office, said probers may not stop with cracking down on the sale of stun guns.
"We review all matters that come to our attention and if there are other illegal items for sale on the Internet, we will look into it," he said.