Miro Cernetig, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
There's been a little too much gunfire and bloodshed in the neighbourhood since I moved in 18 months ago, with gangbangers spraying bullets in a local restaurant, on the streets and, just the other day, outside my grocery store.
So I figured I might want to get the latest must-have accessory for the smartly dressed Kitsilano man; yes, I'm shopping for some personal body armour.
I thought this might be a tough thing to find here, in our supposedly peaceable kingdom. It wasn't.
****Indeed, I found a terrific little personal-body-armour haberdashery just around the corner from my IGA, the one where Matin Pouyan (who, as they say, was known to police) was gunned down last Sunday in another gang shooting.
It's called the Spy Store.
You may have noticed its snazzy black-and-white sign, advertising its wares: night vision, digital recorders, bug detectors, pinhole cameras and, yes, body armour.
I stepped in for a look. It's a shoe-box of a place, with all those 007 gizmos - $3,995 night-vision goggles, a $49.95 Sonic Super Ear, tiny hidden cameras and those machines you see in banks for counting wads of cash - locked behind glass cases that you're not allowed to touch.
There were two clean-cut young salesmen inside, serving a steady flow of customers. I waited for one to finish with two guys looking for devices to test whether their cars are being bugged.
Unfortunately, I didn't spy any body armour on display. I thought they might have gotten out of that business. Fearing the worst, I bought the Spy Store catalogue. And there it was, body armour - priced at about the cost of an Armani jacket.
"The Spy Store carries law-enforcement grade body armour . . . This means [vests] are capable of stopping 9 mm, .357 magnum [bullets]. Each vest comes with a steel breast plate which can be used in high-threat situations."
Perfect if you live in a city in the midst of a gang war. To complete the ensemble, there was also a $149 pair of gloves the catalogue lovingly described: "Six ounces of powdered lead is carefully built into the knuckle area of these tough but pliable deer skin gloves."
The Spy Store had some eye-catching books, too. There was a copy of the Drug Enforcement Agency Narcotics Investigators Manual - Confidential, the SWAT Team Manual and How Big Brother Investigates - Keeping your Trail Clean.
Now, you're probably starting to wonder, as I was, who buys all this stuff? More importantly, should they be allowed to buy it? Let's face it, you wouldn't want some of this to get into the wrong hands.
That's what New Democratic Party MLA Mike Farnworth thinks, too. After seeing local gangsters walking around town in their own personal body armour, to avoid being mortally wounded by their rivals, he will introduce a private member's bill requiring police permits before you can buy your own body armour.
The B.C. government ought to take his proposed law seriously. Right now, the only filters on who gets personal body armour are the people who sell it.
The Spy Store - a legitimate business with outlets in Vancouver, Surrey and Calgary - won't sell to just anyone, of course. In its catalogue, it declares: "The possession of this catalogue is not an offer to sell."
It also says: "The items in this catalogue are only intended for use in a legal manner."
But should its body armour fall into the wrong hands? Well, "The Spy Store, the company, and any members of its staff, disclaim any responsibility, and/or liability, for wrongful or unlawful acts committed by the purchaser with items from this catalogue . . ."
As for me and my personal body armour?
The Spy Store has another policy: All sales final. I'm hoping the police can get their act together and save me the money.
mcernetig@vancouversun.com© The Vancouver Sun 2009
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