THE owner of Soldier Soldier Army Surplus in Farnworth says there is no way the weapons sold at his shop can be fired. The man, who would not be named, said: "Bars are put up inside the barrel and the end is welded shut. The back half of the block inside is missing and there is no way they can be re-activated."

He said all the guns he has have certificates of de-activation from the Birmingham Proof House. "In the eyes of the law they are no longer guns. If you walk down the street with one the police may stop you and examine it. But once they see its de-activated there's nothing they can do. We always send them out of the shop in a bag," he said.

"We restrict the sale of them and our knives. We don't sell to anyone under 18 and if we don't like the look of them we won't sell." "You can go into a toy shop and buy a toy gun. If someone used that in the dark people might be frightened by that. Or someone can buy a baseball bat without any restriction which could cause a lot more damage to someone. And you can go into a supermarket and buy a much bigger knife than I sell."

The shop has been open about two weeks and developed as a permanent base from a business travelling to military fairs during the summer.

He said grenades and ammunition were all de-activated. He added: "We take a responsible attitude and restrict our sales. A lot of our customers are collectors, Territorial Army members or cadets, people who enjoy re-enactments and old people who remember the war.

"I know some people, particularly old people, have peered through the window and looked unhappy. But we are more than happy to invite them into the shop and show them everything and reassure them. Anyone can come - public, the police, anybody - and I will take time to explain it all."

"We wanted to make an impact in Farnworth and we've certainly raised a few eyebrows. If we've upset a few people we're sorry but nobody has been hurt by what we're doing." "To be honest our main business where we make the money is selling combat clothing - anything from long-johns to a bullet-proof vest."

He added: "I think we take a very responsible attitude. We deliberately don't sell de-activated hand guns because they are easier for people to hide in a jacket and mess around with trying to frighten people. We don't stock air-guns because they can actually fire things which could hurt people."

He said he was selling nothing different to what has been available at Militaria shows in Silverwell Street sports centre..

He added he had CCTV in the shop and would hand over video-tapes of any customers if police needed it for their inquiries.

He first claimed that no guns had been sold from the shop. Then when we produced the certificate of the one bought by the BEN his female assistant admitted they had and showed receipts etc. He said: "I mustn't have been here. I have another business and travel around so I'm not here all the time."

Guns on offer include 303 Bren £200, AK 47 £200, Thomson 'Tommy Gun' £200, Sterling sub-machine gun £300, 30 calibrated Browning machine gun £350.

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