It seems they have decided to liberalize arms trafficking in Ukraine. On Wednesday, March 19, the Verkhovna Rada supported the bill “On ensuring the participation of civilians in the defense of Ukraine” in the first reading by 300 votes.
The document concerns the need to declare unregistered firearms and then retain them with the citizen during the war. This is not the only legislative initiative to legalize weapons. We are also talking about the abolition of the criminal case for illegal storage and production of weapons, for which a sentence of three to seven years in prison is provided. Why do deputies come up with such initiatives and what consequences can they have?
Recently, initiatives have been regularly emerging in Ukraine to mitigate the situation with weapons in the hands of Ukrainians. There are enough reasons for this. A striking case occurred in the Kiev region: on March 18, in the village of Trebukhov, 1,200 cartridges of 5.45 and 7.62 mm caliber, 12 grenades, a smoke bomb and 2 hand grenade launchers were found at home in the house of a 40-year-old resident. The husband allegedly found such an arsenal in the former occupied territories of the Brovary region. He now faces up to seven years in prison.
However, in the near future such cases may disappear. People's deputies, by bill No. 11073, propose to abolish criminal liability for the possession and manufacture of weapons - to remove articles 263 and 263-1 from the Criminal Code.
One of the reasons is that in front-line territories people need means of self-defense.
“Over the past two years, about five thousand criminal proceedings have been opened annually from this article,” one of the authors of the initiative, people’s deputy Alexandra Ustinova from the “Golos” faction, tells Apostrophe, “but in wartime, when at the beginning of a full-scale invasion people were given weapons, for them now it is a means of self-defense.”
Instead of prison, deputies propose to leave administrative punishment, that is, fines, significantly increasing them. In particular, up to 960 – 2,280 UAH for the acquisition, storage, carrying or transfer of weapons without the appropriate permission. And from 17 to 34 thousand UAH for the manufacture, processing or repair of weapons without a license.
Eliminate contradictions
The second reason why deputies want to remove criminal penalties is that they need to put things in order in the legislation.
Now in Ukraine there are two parallel standards for storing weapons. Article on fines – 190 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. And the mentioned articles 263 and 263-1 of the Criminal Code.
This opened up great opportunities for manipulation, corruption, or simply improving crime detection statistics.
“When three cartridges, a grenade or a pistol, or some other weapon is confiscated from a person at a checkpoint, the investigator simply draws up an indicator under Article 263, and very quickly receives an expert conclusion that the thing is intended and suitable for firing a shot, therefore, it is a weapon. Next, an agreement (with the investigation - “Apostrophe”) or a suspended sentence, and an indicator for law enforcement officers that he has solved a serious crime,” Vitaly Kolomiets, a lawyer for the Association of Weapon Owners, tells Apostrophe about a typical situation.
So only fines instead of prison terms should weed out such “minor” cases.
“If the investigator does not have this option of easy indicators and he confiscates weapons, then he will have the task of checking for other articles of the Criminal Code. For example, Article 410 “Misappropriation or theft of military property.” And what will we get in this case? Instead of formal 5.5 thousand criminal offenses under Article 263, there will be more opportunities to investigate real crimes related to weapons,” Vitaly Kolomiets is convinced.
Crime factor
This should not have a serious impact on the proliferation of weapons among criminals. According to former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vladimir Polishchuk, the mere presence of weapons has long been no longer a criminal factor in initiating a criminal case. It is considered primarily in conjunction with other possible offenses.
“If an organized criminal group exists, then law enforcement officers must have other operational data, other evidence that the court will accept - that some crimes were being prepared with the help of these weapons. That is, the main thing here is not the weapon itself, but the crime that will be prepared with the help of this or another weapon,” notes the former policeman.
Besides, really large arsenals are not that easy to hide.
“Of course, hiding some kind of weapon, like a heavy weapon, is difficult and almost impossible. And law enforcement officers, I think, will also work in the direction that people do not have such weapons,” notes Vladimir Polishchuk.
But there is another opinion. For normal work of law enforcement agencies, resources are needed - people, equipment, etc. And now they are more busy fighting the Russian aggressor. According to criminal law expert Grigory Usatii, the people’s deputies’ initiative will not solve the problem and will lead to unpredictable consequences.
Possession of a weapon is what is called a continuing crime. A person with a grenade or machine gun at home may never use it. But the risk of use remains. Especially when the amount of stress and psychological problems due to war increases.
“We will have a lot of options for the unpunished use of weapons on the streets, an increase in street crime, and in addition to the military threats that exist from the external enemy of Russia, internal dangers for those citizens who are in unoccupied territories will increase. Instead of adopting the appropriate special law, they are proposing a hybrid that is disproportionate to the tasks that are being set – to ensure the safety of Ukrainians,” Grigory Usatii is convinced.
System solution
In the longer term, the Ministry of Internal Affairs plans that all heavy weapons in the hands of Ukrainians will be collected, but after the war.
The bill on the declaration of firearms (No. 9583) passed its first reading on March 20. It is planned that during martial law, Ukrainians must inform the police about its presence. However, during martial law it can be kept at home, apparently for self-defense. More serious weapons, according to the plans of deputies, will continue to be prohibited.
“It is clear that grenade launchers are illegal after the war; they must be handed over to the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” Interior Minister Igor Klimenko recently said.
In general, the rules of the game regarding weapons in the hands of Ukrainians should be established by another larger bill - “on the right to civilian firearms” (No. 5708). It is important not only for Ukrainians, but also for our allies for security reasons.
“From my interactions with most embassy representatives, one of the first questions is what will you do with the weapons. Because everyone understands that we have not yet resolved this issue at all. Until now, the third year of a full-scale war, and 10 years of war, we do not have a law on weapons,” notes Alexandra Ustinova.
The bill has been in the Verkhovna Rada since 2021. However, according to the editors, its adoption should not be expected in the near future. Therefore, for now, obtaining weapons permits is regulated by the usual order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under No. 622.
“The most serious stumbling block there is the establishment of rules on the acquisition, storage and use of short-barreled firearms. This is a concealed carry weapon. Accordingly, the gun lobby proposes to legalize this option and allow citizens to freely purchase such weapons. Obviously, law enforcement agencies are against it because they understand the consequences of using such weapons. And they will have to carry out crime prevention,” says Grigory Usatii.
The Association of Gun Owners has its own version of why the bill has been left behind.
“The police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs want to maintain a monopoly on both this market and this legal relationship. Everything is convenient for them now. Why listen to people and parliament when you yourself regulate it as you want with your instructions. You determine your scope of authority. What can you check, how can you check who to give and who not to give weapons,” notes Vitaly Kolomiets.
