The Government has reviewed the submitted draft law.

This draft law proposes that Russian-made short-barrel rifled firearms with a muzzle energy of up to 300 joules be classified as a civilian self-defence weapon, and that Russian citizens aged 23 and over be allowed to purchase these weapons with a license.

However, it can be argued that the use of civilian self-defence weapons, currently authorized, serves the purposes of self-defence adequately. At the same time, the specifications of short-barrel weapons cannot serve as a criterion for assessing an assumed increase in effectiveness as compared to self-defence systems currently available by law.

Moreover, the current records of violations of the law using firearms with a limited kill capability (self-defence weapons), including those legally owned by individuals, remain alarming. Over 2,000 crimes and offences using these types of small arms have been recorded in the past five years. Over 500 people have been injured as a result.About 100 people have died of their wounds.

In this connection, the unhindered sales of rifled short-barrel firearms would negatively impact national public-safety. The crime rate would be aggravated, and more crimes involving the use of these weapons or attempts to obtain them would be committed.

At the same time, we consider it necessary to note that amendments stipulating a ban on carrying rifled short-barrel firearms by individuals for self-defence purposes (See Sub-Paragraph “B” of Paragraph 2 of the draft law) run counter to the amendments contained in Sub-Paragraph “A” of Paragraph 3 of the draft law, which stipulate police issued licenses for storing and carrying small arms by individuals.

Based on the above, the Government does not support the submitted draft federal law.