Massachusetts Judgment Against Online Weapons Retailer

We Care Company, an Internet weapons retailer based in Texas, has been ordered to pay over $30,000 in penalties and court costs and is prohibited from selling electrical weapons to customers with delivery addresses in Massachusetts. Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office obtained a default judgment against We Care late last week after the company failed to show up in court. With the exception of law enforcement; the sale or possession of electrical weapons, including stun guns, is illegal within the Commonwealth.

"Stun guns can cause serious injury or death," said Attorney General Coakley. "We will not permit out-of-state retailers to endanger our communities by shipping them into the Commonwealth under the cloak of the Internet."

The judgment entered is the result of a lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court in May 2006. This lawsuit stems from a 2006 undercover sting into the sales of stun guns through the eBay auction site. Investigators from the Attorney General's Office were able to purchase stun guns on eBay from three different retailers, all of whom operated "stores" on the popular Internet site, and have them shipped to a residential address in Massachusetts. One of the retailers, We Care, shipped the Attorney General's investigator a powerful 350,000 volt "Stunzilla" stun gun, and also included a "bonus" canister of pepper spray, without determining whether the recipient had the required firearms license to possess such a weapon.

The other two retailers, Personal Protection Outlet of North Port, Florida and Unique Wholesale, Inc, of Kissimmee, Florida, also sold stun guns into Massachusetts. The companies chose to settle the matter and were each ordered to pay a $5,000 penalty and bar future sales of the weapons into Massachusetts. All three retailers must place postings on their Web sites explaining they do not ship stun guns to Massachusetts.