Katica: New Law Facilitates Citizens' Right to Acquire Weapons and Ammunition

(Patria) - Deputies in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly today adopted, under an urgent procedure, the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Acquisition, Possession, and Carrying of Weapons and Ammunition.

As explained by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton, Admir Katica, who is also the proposer of this Law, barriers and obstacles that existed in the previous Law, relating to the realization of citizens' rights to acquire, carry, and possess weapons and ammunition, have now been removed.

"First and foremost, citizens will now be able to undergo practical training because, according to the previous Law, they could not do so as no association in the Sarajevo Canton met the conditions stipulated by that legal solution. Without practical training, it is impossible to issue permits for weapon acquisition to citizens who have applied and meet the legally prescribed conditions," said Katica.

According to him, every citizen who owned a weapon had to submit a medical certificate to the competent police administration every ten years, otherwise, their weapon would be confiscated.

"Citizens simply forget that ten years have passed and do not submit the medical certificate, and their weapons are confiscated because of it. In the amendments, we have stipulated that citizens, before their weapons are confiscated, be notified that they need to submit a new medical certificate to the competent police administration. Also, the name of the weapon permit has been more precisely defined, and it now bears the name 'weapon permit for possession and carrying of weapons,' thus removing all dilemmas regarding the purpose for which the weapon is possessed. When acquiring ammunition, citizens will no longer have to inform the competent police administration about it, as this will be the responsibility of the weapon sellers in the Sarajevo Canton. In this way, we have tried to remove all obstacles that prevented citizens from exercising their rights," emphasized Minister Katica.

The Law, according to the Minister, 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 specific conditions for obtaining a permit for weapon acquisition.

"This was also the primary reason for initiating the amendments to the Law because, currently, in the Sarajevo Canton, it is not possible to issue permits for weapon acquisition because no one has a permit issued by the police administration for conducting practical training, and the reason cited is that no shooting range has an operating permit," said Katica, Minister of Internal Affairs.

Compared to the previous one, a novelty in this Law is that individuals who carry cold weapons in public places, religious gatherings, catering establishments, educational institutions, and other public places without a justified reason will now be fined from 1,000 to 2,000 KM.