TV Journalists Try Buying AK-47 On Dark Web, Fail (deepdotweb.com)

An anonymous reader writes: "It was supposed to be a great story about terrorism, uncertainty and the evils of the DarkNet," writes Deep Dot Web, describing an investigative report titled "Fear of Terror -- How Endangered is Germany?" After interviewing security experts, federal investigators, and a survivor of the Paris terrorist attack, a TV news crew in Germany attempted to buy an AK-47 on the dark web -- only to be scammed out of $800. "If he had done a little research he could have known that most weapon dealers on the DarkNet are actually scams," the article points out, adding that German customs officers say they would have intercepted any AK-47 had a delivery been attempted.
Motherboard reported in November that the high number of scams -- some of which are undercover agents -- prompted several dark web markets to stop offering guns altogether, though they suggest the German news crew was trying to recreate the purchases of "disabled" weapons which were then converted back into their original form.

Comments

Re:That's a relief!

[Nikkos]

There's a problem all right, but it's not a gun problem. It's a failure to address the real problems (poverty, education, etc), coupled with a 'whitewashing' of the predominate demographic/cultural characteristics of the perpetrators. This is a problem with idiotic Democrats, who seem to think that removing weapons will solve the problem, and this is a problem with Republicans (and Libertarians) that worship rampant capitalism without any checks and balances of social welfare

The general myth that more guns = more violence is not supported by any real-world examination. The only place you can find such claims are in statistically overtweaked research put out by biased sources.

Case in point:
Total murders 1980 - over 20,000. Number of firearms in America - ~170mil. US Population 220mil.
Total Murders 2014 - ~15,000. Number of firearms in America - ~350mil . US Population 320mil.

100 Million more people, 180 million more firearms. 25% less murders.

Arguing that more guns = more murders/violence simply can't be supported, because over the last 35 years that theory has been completely disproven. It's a complete farce, just like the 'Video game and violence' theory, which again is disproved simply by looking at how youth violence has decreased by over 50% since 1990 (FBI), while violent video games have become one of the most profitable entertainment mediums today.

Go look at any of the gun violence sites that plot the incidents on an actual map. You will quickly see that the vast vast majority of gun violence (not suicides) occur in predominately in low-income, low-education areas of large metropolitan regions that are also predominately inhabited by minorities (and of that, predominately black.) Even if you try to point out 'white' states like Nebraska, Oklahoma, or even Minnesota have crime issues, you will still find the above claim regarding the overall demographics to be true.

Suicides are the other 'big lie' by the Anti-Gun crowd. 2/3rd of gun deaths are suicides, but the idea that reducing firearms reduces suicides is not supported. (There is a study out there that says reducing guns reduces gun suicides, but that's like saying removing electricity reduces electrocutions)
In fact, the US has lower or equivalent suicide rates to countries that have strict gun control. Removing guns will just change the method, not the outcome.

Guns are a strawman and the NRA is just a boogieman to a group of people who can't look up basic numbers, understand basic research methods, or think past their organic, probiotic, cave-man, paleo-vegan diet.

Re: Stupid

[bigfinger76]

They're not modified to be semiauto - they are semiauto. These are civilian versions - crippled replicas, essentially.