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Armed citizens: is Ukraine ready for the post-war challenge

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the issue of legalization of weapons for the civilian population of citizens has become extremely acute and causes heated discussions. At a time when society is striving for recovery and stability, the risks associated with an armed population may far outweigh the potential benefits. Post-war Ukraine may face new challenges: increasing crime, increasing social conflicts and even possible armed confrontations. Will access to weapons be a guarantee of security, or, on the contrary, create a new wave of violence and chaos? Will not our country turn from such radical changes into a zone where gun control will be unattainable, and all misunderstandings will be resolved by shooting, like the gang fights in the bad 90s? The answers to these questions are not as unambiguous as they seem at first glance, and may have far-reaching consequences for the future of Ukraine.

The draft law on the possession of weapons and the legalization procedure in Ukraine

Recently, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted bill No. 9538, according to which civilians, in the case of finding a firearm, must report it to the National Police within 24 hours and hand over the find to the law enforcement officers. Further, these weapons can either be left with the police or, after declaration, transferred to the ownership of a civilian before the end of martial law. After the end of martial law, gun owners are given 90 days to surrender them to law enforcement agencies once and for all.

It is worth noting that not all firearms are subject to declaration, but there are exceptions, which include:

  • rifled firearms with a caliber of 12.7 mm or more and ammunition for them;
  • smooth-bore firearms with a caliber greater than 23 mm and ammunition for them;
  • firearms and ammunition for servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, other military formations, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, state bodies of special purpose with law enforcement functions, civil defense forces, defense-industrial complex of Ukraine.

In general, a weapon permit is a rather complex bureaucratic procedure. Its passage was necessary for hunting enthusiasts.  And although it was somewhat simplified during martial law according to the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs №170 from 01.03.2022, still has certain features.

The following changes were made to the procedure:

  • reduction of time for obtaining a permit. The duration of the procedure cannot exceed two days;
  • the permit granted under the abbreviated procedure will be valid until the end of martial law;
  • after the termination of martial law, firearms must be surrendered by citizens to the police authorities no later than ten days. Or the corresponding weapon (no later than ten days after the suspension or cancellation of the martial law) can be issued according to order No. 622 or implemented in the prescribed manner;
  • reducing the number of criteria by which a permit may be refused, or canceled in the presence of an already obtained permit.

You need to obtain a weapon permit in person at the city or district departments of internal affairs bodies or at the regional departments of the permit system by submitting the following documents:

  • is filled application card;
  • medical certificate Form 127/o;
  • a copy of the passport and 4 photos measuring 3×4 cm;
  • contract of mandatory civil liability insurance of the gun owner;
  • a certificate of completion of courses on the study of the material part of weapons, special tools, rules for handling them and their use;
  • a receipt for payment for the weapon registration service.

It is worth noting that during the procedure for granting permission for the legalization of weapons, the National Police makes a request regarding the criminal record of the person who submitted an application for the registration of weapons. To speed up this process, you can prepare such a certificate yourself in advance. You can get a certificate of criminal record by using the portal of public services or by ordering online on the website of the Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The obtained permit has a three-part form. The first one will remain in the Ministry itself, the other two must be taken with you to the store for the purchase of weapons. After the weapon is bought, sellers keep one form for themselves, and on the second form they must describe the characteristics of the weapon and give it to the owner.

A permit is not required only for pneumatics that have a caliber of less than 4.5 mm and a bullet speed of less than 100 m/s, gas canisters and contact stun guns.

The procedure for registering and obtaining a gun permit is very important. If you evade it, you can be imprisoned for three to seven years.  However, this ban does not stop some unscrupulous citizens. It is difficult to specify the exact number of illegal weapons in the hands of Ukrainians. But, according to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, after the end of the war, citizens will have about 3 million weapons illegally.

The state of affairs with weapons among the population

In the first days of the full-scale invasion on the territory of Ukraine, the process of arming the population, ready to carry out self-defense and fight against the aggressor, was already underway. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued about 1.2 million units in the hands of citizens who went to the forces of TrO (territorial defense) and DFTG (territorial community voluntary formations).

At the end of June 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs started the process of registering weapons. The purpose of this move is to try to control the relatively permitted wartime access to firearms.  Currently, all weapons issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs are in the state register and will remain in the hands of the above-mentioned citizens for the duration of martial law.

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For data survey, 1,750 households own 146 firearms. Among the reasons for owning weapons, the respondents noted:

  • hunting – 53%;
  • for protection from enemies – 21%;

71% of respondents said that they bought their weapons, and 8% received them from the Armed Forces.

“The experience of this war showed that the people must be armed.  Then the combat readiness of the country is completely different, the enemy is delayed at completely different frontiers.”, – recalls the veteran, professor of religious studies at the University named after Yuriy Chornomorets Drahomanova.

Statistics showed an interesting fact that women (73%) show less desire to own weapons, unlike men. 46% of men who do not own a gun say that having a gun would make them feel safer. And only every fifth woman (19%) agrees with this statement.

The issue of legalization of weapons in Ukraine remains open due to its ambiguity, because we already had a bitter experience when ATO soldiers returned home with “dangerous souvenirs”. The son of an ATO veteran decided to show off his father’s weapon to his friends and took it out to show his peers. As a result of careless use, he hit a friend in the stomach. The boy was resuscitated. Thus, careless storage of weapons puts our children at risk.

A veteran of the anti-terrorist operation, who was on a tip-off, was asked to leave a local cafe in Zakarpattia region. After long arguments, he still obeyed. But soon he returned and threw a grenade. As a result of the explosion, a 26-year-old boy was hospitalized with mine-explosive injuries to both legs and an arm. As it turned out during the investigation, the ATO veteran repeatedly used weapons in conflict resolution. Back in 1990, while serving in the Soviet army, he shot a guard with a service weapon.

Such cases, unfortunately, are not isolated, but there were also situations that were important for the protection of society.

A local veteran of the ATO, who has a registered weapon, managed to disperse the drunken brawlers. Although, who knows how the conflict would have ended if the rioters had not run away.

In the first days of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, a veteran of the ATO took out his arsenal and single-handedly gave a serious rebuff to the enemy who invaded the Starosaltivsk community in the Kharkiv region. The veteran himself died, but his heroic act is an example of how one can defend one’s home.

Comments of specialists

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, is also quite cautious about the legalization of weapons:

At the root of this gun ownership problem is culture and the ability to use it. I would like to say one thing: having a weapon and using it against a person are two completely different things. One thing is our military, who defend the country and kill the enemy, another is a civilian who can flaunt these weapons. And there is a man standing in front of her. Will he be able to pull the trigger? The problem here is that we often overestimate ourselves”.

A very interesting comment about the legalization of weapons was provided for the IA “FACT” by a veteran of the Ukrainian Armed Forces:

“In my opinion, it is impossible to legalize weapons under any circumstances. In peacetime, many deputies were in favor of allowing the purchase of short-barreled weapons for personal use (pistols). They spoke out, but they could not push through this decision.

The legalization of weapons has more disadvantages than advantages. Consider this on the example of a traumatic weapon, although, if correct, it is not considered a weapon, it is a special tool for shooting rubber bullets. There was a huge number of abuses, hundreds of criminal proceedings were initiated in this regard. Only in one Lyubotyn of the Kharkiv region, the SBU initiated and investigated a case where a large number of permits for the purchase of injuries were illegally issued. People received them on the basis of certificates that they are members of civil formations for the protection of public order and the state border.

In Ukraine as a whole, a number of criminal proceedings were instituted, in particular by the Central Office of the Security Service of Ukraine, against a number of policemen of the permit system headed by the deputy head of the Department of Preventive Activities, who supervised them.

The culture of relations regarding the purchase of traumatic weapons, and in general any hunting weapons, is at the lowest level in our country. An example of this is numerous criminal proceedings. We have a complete lack of control over the registration and issuance of all types of weapons, control and supervision files on weapons are not filled out and not accounted for, precinct officers will not check the correctness of their storage at citizens’ homes. After the authorization to purchase a traumatic weapon, there was an immediate surge in offenses related to the illegal and groundless use of this special tool. Now imagine for a moment what will happen if they give permission to purchase short-barreled rifled weapons. Chicago will rest!

It is possible to grant permission for weapons only in developed civilized countries, such as Germany, England. Where there is a high culture of behavior among the population, strict police accounting and control. At the same time, you can buy any weapon in the USA, and we see what terrible cases of mass shootings happen in this country. Fortunately, we don’t have that.

I gave only examples of prospects for the sale of short-barreled weapons that were in peacetime. And now let’s return to our realities. War, thousands of trophy weapons, but someone’s “sick head” wants to make proposals for its legalization. This can not be done in any case!

The risks I described will need to be multiplied several times. If weapons are legalized in Ukraine, complete chaos will ensue. Criminals will hunt citizens in order to acquire weapons, that is, they will become another object of encroachment. And after taking possession of it, they will commit serious crimes. I can give many more arguments, from which it follows that the legalization of weapons is not only undesirable, but categorically unjustified. Believe me, the minuses in this case are much more than the pluses.”

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Foreign experience in the issue of weapon legalization

There are only three countries in the world that grant the constitutional right to bear arms: the United States, Mexico, and Guatemala.

The USA is considered the most progressive country in the issue of gun legalization. In the hands of the most democratic society in the world, there are 393 million units of firearms, which is 120 units per 100 inhabitants. Probably, gun ownership is an influence of the country’s historical past, when every American literally gnawed his piece of land and defended it from the encroachments of others. Times have changed, but the mentality of US society has not changed.

“Our founding fathers created the American Constitution so that people have the right to self-defense, the right to bear arms. In this way, they also control the government. That the government is not the only one that can dictate its terms. That if people don’t like it, they can protect themselves in this way,” he explains US Navy Officer Gary Tabach.

In the USA, anyone can buy a weapon at any store. There is a clear classification of firearms in the country:

  • single-shot – one cartridge for making only one shot;
  • semi-automatic – each time the trigger is pressed, one bullet flies out;
  • automatic – when the hook is pressed, the weapon fires automatically.

Automatic weapons are subject to strict regulations in the US to ensure the safety of citizens, while not limiting the owner’s right to self-defense. But folk craftsmen have learned to turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons. And here the limits of control are lost.

The USA is a country with sad statistics of mass shootings and a high level of crime. The death rate from gunshot wounds in the USA is 4.12 people per 100,000. The offended teenager grabs a weapon and goes to find out about the relationship with the offender. The result is hundreds of seriously injured and killed children and adults. In the poor areas of the country, there are constant skirmishes, from which ordinary citizens suffer. It is possible that giving weapons to absolutely everyone is not the best solution.

Switzerland is a great example when the presence of weapons does not cause problems. In Switzerland, every man undergoes military training and has a weapon at home. According to the data, there are 27.5 weapons per 100 people. That is, every fourth Swiss has his own weapon. However, Switzerland has 0.18 deaths per 100,000 from gunshot wounds. Strict controls and regular inspections of gun owners help maintain a high level of security.

Another unusual example is Brazil. There is also a high level of gun ownership, and an equally high level of violence precisely because of access to weapons – 8.2 units per 100 inhabitants. However, the rate of gun deaths at 20.8 per 100,000 is the sixth highest in the world.

It is obvious that the issue of gun legalization is very difficult and controversial.  On the one hand, the availability of weapons for every citizen gives confidence that it is possible to increase the level of personal security and at the same time ensure the defense capability of the entire country. The legalization of weapons will provide an opportunity to protect oneself and one’s family, especially in wartime conditions, when law enforcement agencies cannot always provide prompt assistance.

On the other hand, weapons in the hands of the population are extremely safe. Its legalization among civilians after a war could lead to many safety consequences that far outweigh the potential benefits. First of all, post-war society is often characterized by high levels of stress, social tension and a lack of trust in state institutions. In such conditions, the free ownership of weapons can become a catalyst for increased violence. Experiences gained during war, combined with post-traumatic stress disorder, can cause the uncontrolled use of weapons by the population, which will increase the number of cases of domestic violence, interpersonal conflicts and street crimes.

In addition, the legalization of weapons can stimulate the development of a shadow market, where weapons will be available not only to law-abiding citizens, but also to criminal elements. This can lead to a serious threat to public safety, especially in times of economic instability, when crime rates can rise significantly.

Another important aspect is the risk of political conflicts. In conditions where society is divided along ideological, linguistic or religious lines, the presence of a large number of armed citizens can lead to uncontrolled violence and even to attempted violent actions against state authorities. Instead of strengthening the country’s defense capabilities, such a situation could lead to even greater destabilization and increased internal tensions.

In addition, it will be extremely difficult for the state to establish effective control over the circulation of weapons. In the conditions of post-war recovery, when the resources and attention of state structures will be directed to the restoration of infrastructure and the economy, effective control over compliance with the legislation on weapons may become practically impossible. This will open the way for massive abuses, further worsening the security situation. Therefore, the legalization of weapons in the post-war period, instead of the expected security, will bring new threats that will be difficult to control and will have long-term negative consequences for the entire society.

 

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