
Tor: Illegal Weapons - skazka16
http://kukuruku.co/hub/infosec/tor-illegal-weapons
======
venomsnake
Big deal. It is not as if it is something hard to DIY if you are committed to
breaking the law.

I think that is the stuff that both sides of second amendment shouting match
fail to get - inventing deadly stuff is easy.

~~~
collyw
Would you have the same attitude about kiddie porn?

What you say is true, but being able to buy guns from Tor will save you a lot
of hassle over trying to manufacture your own.

I think I am pretty open minded, but I was fairly shocked at what claimed to
be available when I logged onto Tor to see what it was all about.

~~~
golemotron
Apples and oranges. Guns have no victim unless they are used and the vast
majority of them, illegal or not, are never used to hurt anyone.

Our society fetishes guns enormously. I know some people who would be
uncomfortable being in someone's house if they new they had a gun, even if
they trust and know everyone in the house. Those same people are never scared
by steak or hunting knives in the same house.

~~~
RVuRnvbM2e
In my country (Australia) I believe _most_ people would be a little
uncomfortable if they knew they were in a house with a gun. I'd certainly
think the owner was a bit odd/unhinged unless they owned it as part of their
employment (farmer, roo shooter etc.).

That said, I don't see this as a big deal. It's always been possible to mail
weapons from a jurisdiction with easier access to them. Tor black markets just
make it a little easier to organise.

~~~
harshreality
If someone isn't comfortable in a house with a gun, regardless of the
upstanding character of the owner, that might indicate a harmful phobia of
certain kinds of inanimate objects, but it's their choice not to visit a gun
owner's house and nobody is going to take that choice away from them. A law
against gun ownership is vastly different.

Plenty of people don't like drugs, particularly banned narcotics and
stimulants. I might even be uncomfortable in certain instances visiting
someone who I know has drugs. Presumably if they have them, they use them on
occasion. Let's ban drugs, right? Who cares whose privacy and property rights
are violated as long as _I feel better_?

~~~
frapandolf
I don't think that is a particularly fair correlation. Guns are (historically)
tools created with the express purpose of KILLING OTHER HUMAN BEINGS,
capitalized for emphasis. Being uncomfortable around them is not indicative of
some kind of basic phobia of inanimate objects.

~~~
harshreality
You skipped over the middle of that sentence. If you're afraid that the person
you're visiting has guns and is unsafe with them, or will actively try to kill
you with them, by all means don't visit them. Most gun owners feel the same
way. Allowing people to own guns does not give them carte blanche to handle
them any way they want without being criticized, shunned or charged with a
crime.

They also might accidentally stab you with a knife or have horrible aim when
trying to butcher a chicken you're holding, and cut off your hand with a
cleaver. Is it reasonable, then, to be uncomfortable around knives in a
kitchen, too? Even when they're not in use? Within certain boundaries of
storage and safe handling and usage, knives are not dangerous.

It's the same with guns. Within certain boundaries of safe handling, by
someone who you don't suspect is mentally unhinged, gun possession or use is a
non-problem. Anyone who is unsafe with guns, around anyone who's familiar with
gun safety, will quickly be educated about proper gun handling.

As with bows and arrows, and swords, and crossbows (which, when cocked, are
not so different from guns... they must be handled very carefully, but where's
the casual disparagement of crossbow owners?). And all other things that have
their places in everyday use, sport or culture, even when they could be
dangerous. The origins of guns as weapons is irrelevant. Guns are not unique
in that respect, yet many people who dislike, or are afraid of guns, treat a
gun phobia uniquely as something to be praised. "How would any reasonable
person not be afraid of guns? They're instruments of death!" How would any
reasonable person not be afraid of a crossbow, or a katana, or even a knife?
We learn to use knives safely without fear, and learn not to be afraid of
swords and (cross)bows when they're being stored or carried or used properly.

~~~
Snesker
>Is it reasonable, then, to be uncomfortable around knives in a kitchen, too?

In Britain it is! Bin that knife, criminal!

------
draugadrotten
Law Enforcement knows very well how to deal with Tor, as evidenced by busts
against Silk Road and even small time drug dealers as operation ononymous.
[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/operation-onymous-six-britons-
arres...](http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/operation-onymous-six-britons-arrested-
police-bust-400-drug-dealing-dark-web-sites-1473713)

Russia also knows how to go after Tor, as seen in Malware busts and the arrest
of "Paunch" malware creator in Russia. [http://geekslop.com/2013/blackhole-
malware-creator-arrested-...](http://geekslop.com/2013/blackhole-malware-
creator-arrested-in-russia)

If individual guns can be sold online, it only means that Law Enforcement is
not prioritising going after the sales of individual guns - right or wrong -
they are not stopped by the use of Tor or even encryption.

~~~
ryanlol
Paunch had nothing to do with Tor and wasn't exactly trying to hide his
identity.

------
hias
How does this work? I guess they can not just ship the heavy guns via standard
postal services? Aren't there controls in the shipping centers which check for
scents of drugs, gunpowder, whatever?

~~~
pakled_engineer
Russians always use GPS drop since the post system there is totally
unreliable. Everywhere else they disassemble and mail the guns with a pile of
scrap and call it 'bike parts' or something.

No idea how they ship the ammo I hope they don't mail it as it goes on
passenger planes and live ammunition has to be secured so an LD3 doesnt roll
around, crush something then set off bullets flying through the cabin.

~~~
wolfgke
> Russians always use GPS drop since the post system there is totally
> unreliable.

Could you explain me how GPS drop works (I couldn't find information on that
topic via Google)?

~~~
logfromblammo
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_drop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_drop)

Think of it as an orienteering game with only two participants. You place the
package in a location unlikely to be found accidentally. You transmit the
GPS/Glonass location information to the second person. They go to the location
and retrieve the package.

