Arms Smuggling Prosecutions Spark Debate Over What Constitutes a Gun Part

Tong Changfang, a hardware vendor and exporter in Shenzhen, was sentenced last year to life in prison by a local court for illegally manufacturing and selling firearms. The Guangdong Provincial High Court upheld the verdict in late October after an appeal.

Tong, head of Zhongge Technology Co. Ltd., is one of many merchants conducting cross-border trade on e-commerce platforms who have been prosecuted recently for producing or selling goods they considered to be hardware that the authorities identified as gun parts.