UKRAINE, Mar 21 — The Ukrainian parliament supported draft law No. 9538 in the first reading, which improves the procedure for handling firearms found or received by citizens to counter Russian aggression, announced by Deputy Interior Minister Bohdan Drapiatyi.

He noted that the key provisions of the draft law are:

  • Civilians who found or received weapons during the war are obliged to declare the weapons. The declaration procedure will be simplified and free of charge.
  • A person must inform the police about the weapons or ammunition they found within 24 hours, then declare or hand them in.
  • If the declared weapon is involved in criminal proceedings, has removed or illegally altered markings, or other discrepancies as defined by law, it will be seized by the National Police.

Adopting the draft law will provide civilians with legal guarantees for the legal storage of found weapons during martial law, Drapiatyi said.

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that 91.8% of applications for various types of weapons permits were approved in Ukraine.

Unified register of weapons (UWR)

The Unified Weapons Register (UWR) started operating in Ukraine on June 23, 2023. Since then, citizens have been able to submit an application for a permit to purchase, store, or carry weapons, report a change of residence in the context of the place of storage of weapons, and apply for a permit extension online. In addition, the service provides information about registered weapons.

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