In NanTong City, Jiangsu Province, a hardware factory owner was sentenced to four years in prison because the 1,746 nuts produced by his factory were deemed as “gun parts”. However, the father of the owner claimed that these nuts were actually components for toy guns. He has already spent over 3 million yuan in legal fees to defend his son, but as the Chinese New Year approaches, the date for the second trial of the case has still not been determined, causing great distress to the whole family.
Ma Jian, a 62-year-old who has been running a hardware factory for over 20 years in the region, mainly produces standard hardware parts. His son, Ma Xiaoqiang, took over the management of the factory after graduating from university. In order to keep up with the trend, the factory started producing sight accessories about six or seven years ago. In 2019, a toy merchant named Chen Xun (pseudonym) from Changzhou customized a batch of nuts from Ma Xiaoqiang for use in toy water pellet guns. Subsequently, Ma Xiaoqiang sold the same nuts to other domestic customers through the 1688 platform.
On June 24, 2022, the factory was raided by the Zhuhai police, who seized a batch of nuts and took Ma Xiaoqiang into custody. Ma Jian later found out that 1,977 nuts were seized, out of which 1,746 were classified as “gun parts”.
According to reports, the Zhuhai Municipal Public Security Judicial Appraisal Center determined that the nuts in question were structurally similar to the AR-15 rifle nuts. However, upon comparison of images, the nuts produced by Ma Xiaoqiang differ in height and shape from the barrel nuts shown in the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s AR-15 blueprint. The presiding judge attempted to screw the six implicated nuts onto the same type of gun bolt in court, but they all failed to fit.
The Judicial Appraisal Center of the Southwest University of Political Science and Law issued an “Appraisal Opinion” stating that the nuts are metal fasteners, not commonly found in domestic firearms data, and are used for connecting heat sink covers in simulation game guns, not classified as essential firearm components.
Despite these opinions, the Jinwan District Court did not accept them. In 2025, Ma Xiaoqiang was sentenced to four years in prison for illegal manufacturing and trading of guns. Ma Xiaoqiang appealed the verdict in court. However, as of February 2, 2026, the date for the second trial is still uncertain.
Ma Jian emphasized, “These nuts are simply toy gun accessories, my son did not commit any intentional crimes!” He has already spent over 3 million yuan in legal fees and accrued significant debts to finance the case. He feels anxious when his granddaughter asks about her father, as he can only say, “Daddy is working in a remote country to earn money.”
With Ma Xiaoqiang in prison, Ma Jian hasn’t seen his son for over half a year. Both he and his wife are in declining health, the hardware factory has come to a standstill, over a dozen workers have lost their jobs, and most of the factory’s machines have been sold off.