A public event was organized in Sarajevo today as part of the “Respect life, not weapons” campaign, in response to the large number of incidents caused by firearms with tragic consequences that occurred in the recent past.
The campaign is being carried out by all 10 cantonal Ministries of the Interior in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of the Interior of the entity Republika Srpska, and the Police of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with continuous information and support from the Coordination Committee for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all in cooperation with and technical support provided by the United Nations Development Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNDP).
Through the events that will be held throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with conversations with police officers, citizens, as well as young people and children, will have the opportunity to hear more about the project itself. The goal of the campaign is to raise public awareness of the dangers of owning firearms and the serious consequences for people’s lives and health, but also to call for specific general action to prevent cases of the use of weapons, and to prevent and reduce the possession of illegal weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“It is about an educational campaign aimed at young people. Perhaps the main message would be that there is no situation in which weapons can be considered harmless or playful. We have witnessed, both in the region and in our country, as well as around the world, various accidents which were caused by the irresponsible possession of legal weapons. So now our focus is to tell, primarily young people, but also owners of legal weapons, especially those who have small children at home, how important it is to adhere to legal regulations in the way of properly storing legal weapons. Sufficient is just one second of inattention that will irretrievably destroy not one, but many lives,” said Mersiha Novalić, head of the Public Relations Department of the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton (MUPKS).
She warned that legal weapons must always be out of the reach of children and stored in the manner prescribed by law, and reminded that the law allows handing over weapons and ammunition in illegal possession.
“If we are talking about handing over weapons, specifically in Sarajevo Canton, it is possible to hand over category B weapons, which does not include what we often find discarded, which are hand grenades or other mine-explosive devices. When citizens see discarded weapons, it is important that they don’t touch it and don’t check it, so they don’t take it to the police stations. It’s very important that they inform the police about it via number 122 or the civil protection, that is, the personnel who are specialized to remove it in a safe way,” Novalić said.
After a lecture by police officers on this topic, there was a discussion and a quiz for children and young people about their attitudes and knowledge of this issue.
Apart from Sarajevo, public events promoting the awareness campaign will be held in Livno on November 15, Široki Brijeg on November 16, Zenica on November 17, TuzlaNovember 20, Bijeljina on November 23, Travnik on November 28, Cazin on November 29, Prijedor on November 30, Mostar on December 4, Trebinje on December 5 and other cities in BiH during 2023 and 2024, AA reports.
Photo: AA
