A website is offering military-grade bulletproof vests and face masks for sale to Bermuda residents.Island Armor offers to deliver or drop the equipment to any given address “insuring absolute confidentiality”.In response to inquiries from this newspaper, a spokesperson said the company was set up after they experienced being a bystander at a shooting.They wrote in an e-mailed statement — reproduced here unedited: “Island Armor believes that in these unfortunate times, were citizens fear for their lives one way or another, they should be able to protect themselves against those that aim to do harm.”They added: “We are giving citizens an opportunity for that protection. There are those that may criticise us but if we have to save the life of one gang member in order to save the lives of ten innocent bystanders we consider our service ethical.”The spokesperson declined to be interviewed in person, insisting on e-mail correspondence and remaining anonymous.When this newspaper asked if the website could encourage gun and gang crime — which has plagued Bermuda since May 2009 — the spokesperson replied: “To those that may say we are encouraging gang activities, it has been happening before Island Armor and will continue to happen after Island Armor.“We aim to give assurance to those such as security personnel, taxi drivers, law enforcement and other professions were they may feel endangered while doing there job. Our motto is ‘I’d rather have one and not need it, than need it and not have one’. We at Island Armor stand by this.”This newspaper learned of the website through a blog post on a local site. The anonymous poster was writing in response to reports that a man wielded a suspected machine gun outside Woody’s bar in Sandys on Saturday, August 25.The blogger wrote: “Times are getting crazy. Protect yourself Bermuda,” and included a link to the site at www.islandarmor.com.A visit on Thursday, August 30, showed an array of concealable bulletproof vests at “protection level 3-A” for sale priced between $600 and $775.Pictures of the products — such as a $600 Contour Concealable Vest had captions such as “stealth”. A $750 Ballistic Face Mask was listed as being level 3-A and for “LE, Mil, Gov, Security, and Companies Only” in an apparent reference to law enforcers, members of Government, the military and security companies.The picture caption for the face mask said “for high value operations”. The product was no longer visible on the site the following day. Another product listed on August 30 was a MOLLE plate carrier vest. The body protector was listed as being suitable for “threat level III” with a picture caption saying: “This will stop an AK-47”. Again, it was no longer listed the following day.According to the website, “Type III vests protect against rifle fire from 7.62mm full metal jacket bullets” and also against “high velocity 9mm and .44 Magnum full metal jacket round-nose bullets”. The pictures of protection equipment on the website were interspersed with pictures of cans of food and beer, without any explanation.The company also had a Facebook page, which listed the owner as Island Agency LLC and gave an address of “Nonsuch Lane, Hamilton, Bermuda” along with a phone number.No such address exists according to Bermuda Government maps and the electoral roll.The telephone number did not work when The Royal Gazette attempted to call it. Asked for information about the ownership and location of the company, the spokesperson replied: “We would like to remain anonymous. We have only recently set up and as yet don’t have a headquarters or an office space.”Asked if the website has attracted the attention of the police, and if the company suspects any customers to be criminals or gang members, they replied: “We have reached out to the Bermuda Police Service as notice of our company. “We cannot be 100 percent accurate as to who we sell our products to, but our products are not intended to take lives, but to save them. We cannot guarantee that they won’t fall into the hands of criminals, but if someone feels their life is threaten they should be able to protect them self. In regards to sales and other business information we would like to keep that confidential. Our inspiration for starting this business is the experience of being a bystander at a shooting and choosing to not let that stop us from going out. We will not let circumstances control us, we will control circumstances.”A police spokesman declined to comment. Statistics issued on Thursday showed 16 confirmed firearm crimes so far this year including the Woody’s incident. Two people have been murdered and three injured.There have been 18 gun murders since an upsurge in gang-related crime in May 2009 — ten of which remain unsolved.Research undertaken by The Royal Gazette indicated that it is not illegal to sell or possess bulletproof vests and face masks in Bermuda. However, it’s understood that the items could be confiscated by the police under the Proceeds of Crime Act if suspected to be linked to crime.If the items were used in a crime, the seller could potentially be charged as an aider or abettor. Sources who assisted with the legal research for this article did not wish to be identified.