Those who want to own weapons will have to prove that their lives are in danger.
It is expected that at today’s session, the government will adopt the final draft of the Law on Acquisition and Registration of Weapons of Citizens, which will tighten the criteria for gun ownership in Croatia, reports Večernji List on December 1, 2016.
The age limit for civilians will remain at 21 years of age, but in order to be able to own a weapon, the person will have to prove that his or her personal safety is threatened. As the evidence of personal danger, persons who want to own a gun will have to provide a list of specific complains about attacks or threats of attack which had been reported to the police and that had been recorded in official police records.
The opinion on whether the person who has applied for the purchase of weapons for personal security has justified reasons for acquiring weapons will be made by a committee appointed by the minister responsible for internal affairs, according to the final draft of the law.
For a person who already has a valid license to own weapons that was issued previously on the basis of the authorization for the purchase of weapons, the procedure for determining the conditions necessary for owning a weapon will not be carried out with each subsequent request for approval of the purchase of weapons, except with regards to the verification of information about possible proceedings and convictions for relevant offenses and crimes and determining whether there is a legitimate reason to acquire weapons.
The process of determining general and special conditions, except with regards to possessing medical faculties, will not be carried out for the renewal of existing weapons license, according to the draft of the law proposed by the Ministry of Interior.
In addition to legally obtained weapons, in Croatia there are lots of weapons which are being kept illegally, mostly arms which have been used during the war in the 1990s and which have not been returned to the authorities, despite numerous calls and drives which are designed to invite people to return their illegal weapons. Those who return such weapons voluntarily receive immunity from prosecution for keeping illegal weapons.
