Just in case. With these words, the interlocutor explains why he illegally kept the rifle after the war in the 1990s in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Illegal weapons are considered one of the main security problems in BiH, and they mostly originate from the last war.
There is no official estimate of the amount of illegal weapons in BiH.
Pero claims that he found the rifle during a military operation in a village near Mrkonjic Grad, in the northwest of the country. Together with a hundred pieces of bullets, he hides it in an abandoned house.
“It’s a spoil of war. I’m keeping it, because others are armed and ready. It’s not an amazing rifle, but I like it,” he told.
In recent years, the police in BiH have called on citizens to surrender unregistered weapons without sanctions.
BiH does not have a state law on the acquisition, possession and carrying of weapons and ammunition. This area is governed by a total of 12 laws – at the level of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, ten cantons in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), and in the Brcko District.
The penalty for illegal possession of weapons is up to three years in prison, and fines are also envisaged.
Hidden weapon
Security expert Safet Music assesses that the state of BiH has not taken significant measures to solve “one of the main security problems”.
As one of the key problems, he mentioned the absence of a state ministry of internal affairs, and the shared responsibilities between two entities, ten cantons, and Brcko District, as a separate administrative unit in BiH.
Pistols and rifles in ads
In past years, weapons were easily available and could be purchased through advertisements on the Internet. Dealers often did not state in their advertisements that the buyer must have a license to own a gun.
With the tightening of legal regulations, the number of online ads for the sale of weapons in BiH has been significantly reduced.
How many people were prosecuted?
In 2021, 317 warrants were issued in BiH for the investigation of illegal production, possession and smuggling of weapons. The investigation included 340 suspects.
In the same year, more than 230 people were sentenced, 23 prison terms, 32 fines and 168 suspended sentences were imposed, Radio Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
