Firearm – pistol – illustration photo.
Prague – In the future, instead of physical gun IDs or licenses, people may need an existing authorization to use weapons in the central weapons registry. The amendment to the law on weapons and ammunition and the new regulation on ammunition, which were approved by the government today, are counting on this. The Ministry of the Interior informed about this in a press release. The law also contains other innovations, such as the introduction of another category of weapons or the simplification of the structure of weapons authorizations.
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The amendment envisages various options for proving authorization. In addition to the electronic route, it also leaves more conservative options, such as issuing firearms certificates at public administration contact points. It also abolishes local jurisdiction, so gun owners will no longer have to deal with matters only in the region where they have permanent residence. According to the ministry, the main benefits of the amendment are digitization, the abolition of unnecessary paperwork and an overall increase in user comfort for legal gun owners.
The pair of regulations will completely replace the existing law, which, according to the ministry, is in many respects outdated, bureaucratically inflexible and unnecessarily complicated. “There is no loosening of the rules, but no tightening of the already strict requirements for legal gun owners. It is still true that not just anyone can acquire a gun. However, if people comply with the rules, many things will become easier for them,” said Minister of the Interior Vít Austrian (STAN).
According to the proposal, a new “intermediate category” of weapons should also be introduced, for which notification will be required, but the conditions for their possession will be simplified. The category includes, for example, single-shot or double-shot weapons that are loaded individually, alarm or signal weapons, or gas weapons with a caliber greater than 6.35 mm.
The law also significantly simplifies the structure of previous firearms licenses and firearms licenses. Two types of weapons authorization from the current five groups of firearms licenses and three groups of firearms licenses from the current ten are to be retained.
Last year, 314,039 people in the Czech Republic had firearms licenses, which is 5,049 more than in 2021. Number reported weapons rose by 53,281 to 989,348. Interest in weapons has been growing in recent years. In 2020, 307,372 residents of the Czech Republic owned a firearms license. There were 900,087 registered weapons.
