Title: FRY Law on Weapons, Ammunition Amended Document Number: FBIS-EEU-1999-0306 Document Type: Daily Report Document Title: FBIS Translated Text Document Date: 31 Dec 1998 Sourceline: Belgrade Vojska in Serbo-Croatian 31 Dec 98 pp 30-31 Citysource: Belgrade Vojska Language: Serbo-Croatian Subslug: Article by S. Djokic: "Weapons Harder To Get" [FBIS Translated Text] Changes and additions to the Law on Weapons and Munitions, which should contribute to a greater degree of personal and property security for citizens, introduce precise definitions and categorization of weapons; sharpen the re quirements for the acquisition, possession, and sale of weapons; and stiffen the penalties for illegal possession. Because of uncertainty and fear, as well as strutting and arrogance, the proximity of battlefields, and increasing social aggressiveness, many with the opportunity to arm themselves have done so. The means and the motives for armament are diverse. Pistols, revolvers, and such, in more or less skilled hands, make up a rich arsenal of personal armaments. Weapons by Type and Purpose In the hands of citizens of Serbia are 1,081,828 legalized firearm pieces, including the weapons of target shooting organizations. Not counting hunting and sports weapons, citizens possess 474,984 pistols, 36,109 revolvers, and 1,900 small-caliber revolvers. This year alone, more than 25,000 weapons permits have been issued. According to these statistics, it is easy to conclude that the quantity of weapons in the hands of citizens is many times larger than it was before the war. Since some existing laws had became inappropriate to the real state of affairs, changes were adopted to the Law on Weapons and Munitions to contribute to more order in that area. According to the Republic's Minister of Law, Dr. Dragoljub Jankovic, the changes will significantly increase the personal and property security of citizens. After an extensive study by the Institute for Comparative Law of the regimes for carrying and possessing weapons in the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, France, and Greece, which range from extremely restrictive to very liberal, changes were made, according to domestic needs, to the Law on Weapons and Munitions, as a result of the "real condition on domestic terrain" and worldwide experiences. The new regulations clearly differentiate weapons that can be possessed from those which must not be carried. Weapons for personal protection can be carried only with registration (necessary for possessing all permitted weapons) plus a permit to carry, whereby pistols and revolvers are the only firearms that are permissible to carry. It is explicitly forbidden to carry other types of weapons outside of restricted spaces, such as hunting grounds and target ranges. Stricter regulation will facilitate the future work of public prosecutors and courts, enabling them to determine, without problems, the crimes of unauthorized procurement, possession, and carrying of weapons. The changes and additions more clearly define the weapons according to type and purpose. By purpose, they can be for personal protection, hunting, sport, trophy (derived from uprisings and liberation wars and representing the owner's personal or family trophy), antique (having historical or artistic value and not usable), and combined (rifles with various caliber barrels). Division by type distinguishes the following: firearms (eject a projectile through the pressure of explosive gasses); air (eject a projectile through air pressure); gas (eject or release gas); spray (spray through the action of explosive or inflammatory material); special (eject anesthetic device or device producing a sound or light signal under pressure of an explosive or gas); and strung weapons (eject an arrow or other projectile through pressure on a string or other elastic material). Daggers, bayonets, sabers, and other objects that serve for attack, as their basic purpose, are classified as cold weapons. Innovations in Regulations Permits for carrying weapons (reminder: only pistols and revolvers), meaning that they are also carried outside of the home, are obtained if "exceptionally justified reasons exist for protecting the applicant's safety." A person who wishes to carry a weapon for personal safety must submit to the authorized agency (the closest Ministry of Internal Affairs organizational unit) a written application with justification, certification that no investigation has been initiated against him or indictment issued against him, and certification by an authorized organization that he is trained to handle firearms. In addition, if it is suspected that the applicant is not medically capable of handling a weapon, he can be sent for a medical examination. When submitting an application to carry a weapon, it is then necessary to send certification from an authorized agency that the applicant has mastered specific training. The training itself consists of theoretical and practical parts and tests knowledge. The theoretical part encompasses the legal aspect of possessing, carrying, and using weapons; safe handling; basic ballistics; and technique of operation. Training is conducted by authorized shooting organizations or other organizations that dispose of the necessary equipment and conditions, while details in connection with the performance of training are expected in regulations to be subsequently adopted. Authorized officials, members of the Yugoslav Army, Federal Defense Ministry, and Ministry of Internal Affairs are freed from obligatory training. Minors, convicted criminals, and those against whom criminal proceedings are being pursued according to official duty, will be unable to get permission to procure firearms under the new regulations. It is proposed that the right to possess weapons also be denied to those who -- during the past three years, from the date of application-- have been punished for violating the public order and peace, that is for violations established under that law; and to those against whom a criminal proceeding in the area of public order and peace has only been initiated at the time of application. The changes also cite deprival of the ability to work among the reasons whereby permission cannot be obtained for carrying weapon. A permit to carry a weapon is valid for five years and can be extended for the same time, while the police maintain a discretionary right upon issuing the permit. Justification is found in comparative law: Those proposing the law referred to Belgium, France, Greece, the United States, Switzerland, and Great Britain, in which issuing permits is denied by discretionary right to persons for whom an authorized agency evaluates that permission to carry firearms would threaten the general safety. In view of the experiences of the cited countries, it was proposed that such a discretionary right be maintained for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia. Permits for possessing and carrying weapons for personal safety issued prior to the law taking effect will be valid until 31 December 2000. Penalty Policy One more legalization is foreseen: For 60 days after the law goes into effect, those with unregistered weapons can submit an application for legalization without proving the derivation of the weapon. For 30 days after the changes go into effect, owners of banned weapons and armaments can surrender them to the agencies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, without being charged for illegal possession. Changes and additions in the area of penalties are far from mild. One to five years' imprisonment is foreseen for possessing, without a permit, 12.6 mm caliber weapons, gas weapons, or more than 60 pieces of munitions. For possessing larger quantities of weapons, defined as more than three pieces of firearms of more than 12.6 mm caliber, and then bombs, grenades, missiles, mines, or more than 1 kg of explosives, a penalty of three years' imprisonment is threatened. This represents a change in relation to the previous rules, which left the evaluation of what constituted a "larger" quantity of weapons to judicial practice and interpretation. Sale, procurement, possession, carrying, repair, or remodeling a firearm with silencing equipment, and simply possessing a silencer, are also banned, as is possessing telescopic sights with a lighted beam, equipment for electrically increasing light, or infrared equipment. Citizens cannot have legal ownership of popular "kalashnikovs" and other semi-automatic or automatic weapons, with the exception of semi-automatic hunting rifles, nor of short automatic weapons such as the "skorpion." At the same time, the changes foresee the possibility of substituting incarceration for each declared monetary penalty. One day of jail will be worth 60 dinars, instead of 20 dinars as currently. If only a fine is imposed, it can be replaced with i ncarceration of up to 30 days. In case a fine and incarceration are imposed simultaneously, incarceration can last up to 90 days. An important innovation is that, in situations in which the amount of a fine is regulated, the first level of jurisdiction for conducting the criminal proceedings (as well as making the decision and determining the penalty) is transferred from munici pal magistrates to agencies of government administration. Service and Personal Weapons Carrying and using weapons for official needs in the Yugoslav Army is regulated by service rules and other regulations. Under current decisions, professional soldiers' personal weapons are regulated by internal rules, and each officer of an organized unit at the rank of corps (independent administration) and higher is authorized to issue permits to carry personal weapons, that is pistols, revolvers, and carbines -- we learned from the deputy chief of the Federal Defense Ministry Legal Administration, Col. Rados Plazinic, MS. Many Yugoslav Army members are interested in the legal destiny of the "Zastava" weapons that they procured through the authorized administration at favorable prices and, in certain cases, used as official weapons. Under republic regulations, only the use of service weapons is permitted for official needs. Personal weapons must be registered at the nearest police station and cannot be used officially. The regime for the personal weapons of Yugoslav Army and Ministry of Internal Affairs members is the same as for all other citizens, except that they don't have to undergo training. Inherited Weapons Many families possess the personal weapons of Yugoslav Army members deceased or killed in action. Such a pistol or revolver is a subject of the inheritance discussion. If a court verdict confirms to which of the heirs the weapon belongs, for eight days after that verdict, the heir can, for example, sell it or apply to keep or carry it. The contrary applies to illegal possession of a weapon, which must be surrendered on account at the conclusion of the proceeding. Validation of Reality The republic law unambiguously equates the personal weapons of professional soldiers, and of retired soldiers, with the weapons of other citizens. Thus, they must register them in the same way and under equal conditions as the rest. That does not mean it is necessary to create differences and to seek privileges for the "military caste," but it is worthwhile to validate reality. They who choose the military profession are connected with weapons, spending more than half their lives with them, perhaps for personal satisfaction, but certainly because of the needs of society and the state. Leaving work, they do not stop being "living shields," as illustrated by the retired colonel who, on the streets of Belgrade, prevented a terrorist attack on a foreign diplomat. Such men are left with a bitter taste when their position is not validated. Therefore, it would be well to find understanding for them and to more flexibly resolve the question of personal weapons, while validating their professional knowledge. Award Pistols The legal regime of pistols which Yugoslav Army members received as awards is the same as for other weapons. If a personal weapon is awarded, it is necessary to go to the nearest police station to register it within eight days of receiving the award. Weapons in Statistics Since 1 March 1992, when the Law on Weapons and Munitions went into effect, until 31 October l998, 46,200 criminal acts were committed because of unauthorized procurement, possession, work on, exchange, and sale of firearms, averaging 7,000 criminal acts annually. Found and confiscated over the same time period were 54,489 pieces of various firearms, 953,074 bullets, 1,392 explosive devices, and 824 kg of explosives. "Weapons and Tax," by Petar Vaskovic I am a military retiree, and I live in Kragujevac, as do many of my comrades. How did we acquire personal weapons? Upon retirement, we were each officially presented with the book "Tito, Supreme Commander" and a medal, and some also received pistols. Through personal purchase, from the organization of military management, as an officer's formation weapon. In recognition of exceptional successes: first in rank in military school, successful management and command of a unit, or other distinctions. Some acquired them in war. Here there are many well-known heroes who armed themselves and many of their comrades in combat, through personal bravery. Today many are no longer among the living. Their nearest kin guard those pistols as holy souvenirs. Fresh examples from the unfortunate last war speak much. Let us remember only Lieutenant Colonel Nikitovich, who was awarded a pistol as first in rank upon finishing the Military Academy. He lost his young life. His pistol says everything to his mother and all of us. I personally possess two pistols. I obtained one in Bitolj in 1972 as a barracks commander from the president of Turkey, Sulejman Demirel, in recognition for preserving the memory of Kemal Ataturk, who attended the military academy at that barracks. I obtained the second pistol when I retired. But now it is necessary to pay a fat yearly tax for such precious souvenirs. You didn't really need that, especially since our weapons are peaceful. With respect for my known and unknown retired comrades, Petar Vaskovic