The Czech government plans to guarantee the right to possess weapons in response to the controversial European Union Firearms Directive.
The Czech government is introducing an amendment to the Firearms Act, which will introduce new categories of weapons into Czech law, and the Senate is expected to approve the amendment without modification, according to Czech news portal Echo24 .
The law will contain a provision according to which “the right to acquire, possess and carry a weapon is guaranteed under the conditions laid down by this law”. The provision is a response to trends within the European Union to remove the right to bear arms. The Czech Republic has been actively opposed to EU efforts to disarm citizens in the past, and the government has even stated it would support making the right to self-defense with a weapon a constitutional amendment.
The newest Czech rules are intended to allow the use of shot silencers and night-vision sights, which are now among the prohibited weapon accessories. The method of disposal of weapons or their presentation at exhibitions or sales events will be simplified. The standard is intended to enable the display and transport of weapons at cultural-historical events, such as demonstrations of historical weapons during parades or battlefield reenactments.
The amendment is also intended to unequivocally enable bi-athletes to carry their weapons visibly during their races. The law should also introduce requirements for shooting ranges. Office buildings that ban weapons inside would be required to have safes available for storage.
The retention of the ten-year validity of firearms licenses has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies, with the police checking at least once every five years whether the license holder meets the legal requirements, especially in regard to medical conditions.
According to the government’s proposal, the existing categories of weapons will be expanded by two new ones. They will include legally owned weapons for which, for example, the owners have not yet had a reporting obligation and did not need to be registered. This applies, for example, to historic or devalued weapons, which will now fall into a stricter category. It is not clear how many such weapons will have to be re-registered by their owners. Their numbers are estimated at tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
The amendment also includes a new European regulation concerning technical requirements for alarm and signal weapons and for the marking of firearms.
Title image: A young man makes a gesture in the shape of a gun while visiting an outdoor art exhibit at the Art Banka Museum of Young Art in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. An art display by the artist Davida Cerneho, showing four replica guns, each over six feet long, hangs in the courtyard of the museum. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
