More than 80 stun guns were discovered in a shipment from Germany, where the average age of the buyers was 69, according to Swedish Customs. The common denominator for the customers was that they said they felt unsafe and wanted to be able to defend themselves.
So far this year, 133 illegal stun guns have been discovered by Swedish Customs (Tullverket), 87 of which were stopped at the Malmö postal terminal in March. Of the 84 buyers identified, 60 were men and 24 women. Most were elderly, with an average age of 69. The oldest were two 84-year-old men and the youngest was a 34-year-old woman. The orders were placed by people from Ystad in the south to Skellefteå in the north of Sweden. When contacted, most of the customers said they ordered the guns because they felt unsafe and wanted to defend themselves or a family member.
“I bought it for my daughters to protect them from destructive boyfriends and other men”, said one customer. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, I just want the person attacking me to stop and hopefully end the attack”, said another.
According to Swedish Customs, it appears that people saw advertisements for the stun guns on social media and then placed an order.
– It is difficult to determine the reason for this increase, but several of those who have ordered the stun guns say they have seen advertisements for these weapons on social media. This suggests that the companies and online shops selling these weapons have launched an advertising campaign, Stefan Granath, deputy head of control at Swedish Customs, said according to a press release.
None of the recipients admitted to knowing that it is illegal to possess or purchase stun guns without a license. For example, importing a stun gun without a license could result in gun smuggling charges.
