CAIRO - Trade in licensed and unlicensed firearms, including guns, pistols and stolen semi-automatic rifles, has risen in the coastal city of Alexandria as the lack of security has reached high levels, the local media warned. An estimated LE3 million in fire weapons, ammunition and knives flowed across the city over the past month, the Arabic-language Al-Messa newspaper said, adding that the figure was expected to rise as long as police are keeping a low profile and the people feel insecure. "As the security crisis deepens, the demand for firearms rises, boosting sales of handguns, rifles and pocketknives," an arms trader has said. Mohamed Abdul Aziz said trade in arms had exceeded the food trade thanks to lack of police and the presence of armed street gangs in remote areas of the city, which is located 220km northwest of Cairo. Abdul Aziz expressed his fears that unlicensed arms would fall into the wrong hands, which would use them to terrorise the people. "These activities are considered high profit and low-risk, he said, lamenting the fact that some gang members raise these arms against their fellow Egyptians. Abdul Aziz said that the gangs used arms for extorting money from the people. "At the present situation, I expect a boom in arms sales," he said, warning of a potential high risk of a public security threat because of the improper use of arms by the people. Meanwhile, Alexandria Security Directorate has already issued a warning against offers by some outlaws to sell stolen arms to the public and threatened a tough action against them and the buyers. He said the price of a Turkey-made, or German-made handgun soared from LE5,000 to LE70,000 a piece. Meanwhile, Safwat Hassan, a gun shop owner, said that fears of rising crime due to the lack of security have been sending arms sales sky high, and big demand for firearms during the past month proved it. He said that several hundred people thronged the gun shops in Alexandria, where the famous brand names of Smith and Wessons, Glocks, Walthers, Colts and Berettas are sold. "We've had a huge increase in sales since last month just after the police disappeared from Alexandria streets, Haj Mohamed said. Some shops have sold 500 weapons in February alone, he said, claiming that stolen handguns and semi-automatic rifles are openly sold to residents by outlaws in remote neighbourhoods of Alexandria like el-Ajami and el-Dekheila. He said that high rates of crime had sent gun sales soaring in February. "I have got a lot, a lot of new buyers, especially property owners," Haj Mohamed said. Fawzi Faheem came to Haj Mohamed's gun shop to buy the first weapon in his life. He said that he felt unsafe in his neighbourhood and decided he needed a means of self-defence. "Two weeks ago, my family members were threatened by someone with a gun," Fawzi said, adding that he wanted to buy a light, precise and easy to load gun. Another shop owner, who asked not to be identified, said that smuggled stun guns, a weapon that shocks people into submission, were a hot item in Alexandria's informal arms bazaar. With 50,000 volts, these stun guns are sold freely, without a permit, for around LE600, he said, adding that some people sell dozens of these weapons from their homes to students and teenagers.
