Dressler, Matteo, Nils Duquet & Julia Eckelmann. 2021 ‘Box 4: Collection policies in Croatia and Finland.’ Forgotten Weapons? Non-regularised firearms in the European Union, pp. 51-52. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute. 28 April

Relevant contents

Croatia's national collection policy was designed in light of high rates of illicit firearms possession, caused mainly by a legacy of armed conflict, combined with a significant amount of violence committed with illicit firearms at the beginning of the 2000s. As part of a broader disarmament strategy and wider changes to the Weapons Act in 2007, the Croatian government introduced the infinite collection measure, which is codified in article 87 of the (2007) Weapons Act and later in article 79 of the 2018 Weapons Act.

Croatia's amnesty policy aims to convince citizens in unlawful possession of categories A, B or C weapons to report them to the police. In its current form, the programme allows anyone to surrender any illicitly held firearm and to have category B or C weapons deactivated for personal possession after their presentation. The deactivation option does not apply to category A firearms. Until a change to the programme's rules in 2019, it was also possible to regularise surrendered firearms.

(…) Croatia's collection policy was embedded in a broader disarmament strategy, which included a service for the surrender of legally held firearms, which could be picked up at home by the police. As part of this overarching plan, the purpose of the collection policy was widely communicated through an internationally backed outreach campaign.

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https://vlaamsvredesinstituut.eu/en/report/5040/