While criminals carry long guns, the former KS Government prevented citizens from obtaining weapons

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - We inform you that during 2018, the competent police administrations in the Sarajevo Canton issued 900 permits for the acquisition of firearms to individuals, while in 2019, 874 permits were issued, according to the response of the Public Relations Department of the MUP of KS to the inquiry of the Patria News Agency.
 
However, the problem is that the answer was not given to the defined question, but rather they answered as they in the MUP of KS thought they should answer.
 
We asked them how many firearm licenses have been issued to citizens of KS since the amendments and additions to the Law on the Acquisition, Possession, and Carrying of Weapons, which was on July 15, 2019.
 
It was a poor attempt to circumvent the truth. According to our information, the answer should be "Not a single firearm license has been issued in KS under the new law." And the reason is precisely the amendments and additions to the Law on the Acquisition, Possession, and Carrying of Weapons.
 
The number of permits issued in 2019, according to well-informed sources, refers to those who previously had a firearm license and were only looking for weapons.
 
The question arises as to what motive the former Minister of Internal Affairs Admir Katica, the former Government and Assembly of KS had for adopting such amendments to the Law. Especially considering the fact that we have had cases where criminals are shooting automatic weapons around Sarajevo.
 
Therefore, citizens are prohibited from acquiring legal weapons, while criminals possess long guns.
 
In addition to the written exam on knowledge of regulations, the amendments and additions to the Law also introduced practical training, which will be conducted by shooting associations.
 
One of the main reasons for amending the Law is the permits for shooting associations for civilian shooting ranges, which former Minister Katica himself confirmed in a statement on the KS Government website on July 15 last year.
 
"According to the minister, the Law also specifies the procedure for obtaining permits for establishing civilian shooting ranges, which is of exceptional importance for the process of conducting practical training in handling weapons as one of the special conditions for obtaining a permit for the acquisition of weapons," the announcement on the Government website states.
 
"This was the main reason for initiating the amendments and additions to the Law because currently, in the Sarajevo Canton, it is not possible to issue a permit for the acquisition of weapons because no one has a permit issued by the police administration for conducting practical training, and the reason given is that no shooting range has a usage permit," said the former Minister of Internal Affairs.
 
Katica also confirmed at the time that it was not possible to issue a permit for the acquisition of weapons because no one had a permit for a shooting range.
 
Our sources say that the question arises as to which associations will be issued this permit and whether this is "handing over" business to certain associations. They also ask why the MUP of KS did not form its own unit to train citizens, so that the money would go into the budget and the whole process would go faster.
 
The fact that the commission for the written exam has not even been formed yet also indicates that the entire process has been complicated.
 
We learn that some gun and ammunition stores have also started to blackmail citizens buying air rifles, requiring them to join a specific shooting association if the pellet speed exceeds 200 m/s.
 
What the motive of the former Minister of Internal Affairs and the former authorities in the Sarajevo Canton was is unknown, but we are free to ask ourselves whether they left the citizens of Sarajevo Canton without the possibility of obtaining weapons, and with what intention.
 
If only they had done the opposite and disarmed the criminals.
 
However, the police in Sarajevo Canton have another problem. They do not have a database of pistol fingerprints. This was confirmed to us in response to our inquiry: "The Police Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton does not possess the database as stated in your request." And we asked them if they have a database of weapon fingerprints.
 
We all saw on TV how some forensic experts compare fired bullets and casings to incriminate or resolve doubts about someone.
 
Apparently, in Sarajevo Canton, they do not consider this necessary. The Law on the Acquisition, Carrying, and Possession of Weapons and Ammunition of the Tuzla Canton has such a database.
 
It is specified in Article 51 of the Law (weapon fingerprint records).
 
"(1) Legal and natural persons who have registered weapons in the Tuzla Canton are obliged to allow the Ministry to take weapon fingerprints (mechanical trace) for the purpose of entering the fingerprint into the prescribed record.
(2) The Ministry shall systematize a special position for carrying out the tasks from paragraph (1) of this Article, as well as for maintaining collections of weapons and ammunition.
(3) No fee shall be charged for taking weapon fingerprints from paragraph (1) of this Article.
(4) The responsible person of cantonal bodies of state administration, other cantonal bodies, and local self-government units in the TK area is obliged to act in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article."
 
It may not be journalistic to transcribe articles of the law, but we did so for experts in KS to see what they should have actually included in the amendments to the Law, instead of amendments that prevent the issuance of weapons. Let's take the example that there are 1,000 pistols of the same brand in Sarajevo and that a murder was committed with that pistol, by what magic can investigators determine which pistol committed the murder.
 
Whose interest is it that there is no such database in KS, which would certainly facilitate murder investigations, or perhaps that is the reason why we don't have it.
 
Those in charge in Sarajevo Canton should seriously address the Law on the Acquisition, Possession, and Carrying of Weapons.
 
Although it is impossible to claim that there was an intention to prevent citizens of KS from obtaining weapons, it is equally impossible to deny that intention.