Firearm News
Hunter Turns Up Drunk at Czech Police Station to Collect Seized Gun
18 December 2007
Prague Daily Monitor / CTK
BRNO — A local huntsman whose gun was seized by police before a recent hunt when they detected 0.3 per thousand alcohol in his blood, surprised the officers Monday when he turned up at the police station to pick his gun — in a completely blind-drunk state.
"It was enough for him to open his mouth and greet us, and the officers immediately grasped the breathalyser. His breath smelled of alcohol again Monday," the police spokesman has told CTK.
The 39-year-old... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,Europe,Czech Republic
UK Police Want Europe to Ban Sales of Handguns Smuggled to Britain
7 November 2007
BBC News
Police are calling for sweeping changes to European gun laws.
The Greater Manchester force says half of the weapons its officers have seized this year can be bought easily over the counter, and without a licence in many countries.
The BBC's Ten O'Clock News went undercover in Prague to find out how easy it is to obtain a weapon.
We went to the Czech capital to find out if we could buy a gun and found it shockingly easy.
We sent an undercover reporter, posing as... (GunPolicy.org)
Illegal Czech Gun Factory Rebuilt Machine Guns for Smuggling to Austria
23 March 2007
United Press International
Czech and Austrian police have arrested 12 alleged members of a suspected international arms smuggling ring, Prague Radio said Friday.
Nine Austrians and three Czechs had their caches of weapons outside the southern Czech town of Znojmo, close to the border with Austria, police charge.
The smugglers were making decommissioned machine guns usable again and transferred the weapons across the border to Austria for sale, police allege.
In a raid, police uncovered 24... (GunPolicy.org)
Czech Arms Trader Accused of Illegal Gun, Ammunition Sales to Slovakia
9 March 2007
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / CTK News Agency (Prague), Transcript
PRAGUE — Czech police accused arms trader Petr Bernatik, owner of the Technoex company, of illegal sale of machine guns and ammunition to Slovakia, the daily Hospodarske Noviny writes today.
The case points to bad regulations concerning arms exports. The Czech laws allows for various interpretations and a number of exceptions, the paper writes.
A Czech court recently acquitted representatives of another arms trader, the Multiagro company, of charges of illegal arms... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC Worldwide Monitoring / CTK News Agency (Prague)
Czech Government Approves Donation of 20,000 Guns to Afghanistan
21 February 2007
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / CTK news (Prague), Transcript
PRAGUE — The Czech government today approved the plan to donate 20,000 automatic rifles and 650 machine guns worth 30 million crowns to Afghanistan.
The Defence Ministry said the arms were redundant and that they would contribute to the international efforts to achieve security and improve democracy in the region.
In early March, the Czech government is to decide on the donation of 12 transport and combat helicopters to the Afghan military. If the Mi-17 and Mi-24... (GunPolicy.org)
Czech Gun Owners Often Lose Firearms to Thieves, Say Police
23 January 2006
Ceske Noviny (Prague)
PRAGUE — Almost 311,000 people owned the gun licence at the end of last year, possessing about 622,000 weapons, the statistics from the police headquarters, published, said.
The number of gun licences rose by 2300 and of firearms by almost 16,000.
The highest number, over 230,000 Czechs, acquired the gun licence in order to protect their property and life. Huntsmen had 129,000, marksmen 124,000 and collectors 73,000 weapons.
The holders of gun licences used... (GunPolicy.org)
3 March 2005
News24 (South Africa)
PRAGUE — A newspaper on Thursday reported finding new evidence that Czech arms makers exported weapons to the Democratic Republic of Congo despite international embargoes during the country's recent war.
The ongoing investigation into sales of thousands of machine guns, anti-tank rockets and missile launchers in 2000 also linked the alleged deals to Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, who was then serving as interior minister, and former Foreign Minister Jan... (GunPolicy.org)
2004 Firearms Statistics Show Rise in Ownership but Decrease in Licences
11 February 2005
Radio Prague (Poland)
According to a newly released study, last year 308,308 people in the Czech Republic were licensed gun-owners. That's about 3 percent of the population. The Czech Interior Ministry says that about 632,000 firearms are now legally held in private hands, but the number of registered owners is on the decrease.
Dita Asiedu has been pouring over the statistics and joins us now in the studio -
Dita, what do these numbers say about Czech gun ownership? How do these statistics... (GunPolicy.org)
Czech Republic Singled Out Again as Source of Illegal Arms
14 July 2003
Prague Business Journal
Concerns were raised over the thriving Czech arms trade — both legal and illegal — last week in the annual international Small Arms Survey and an investigation by the defense publication Jane's Intelligence Digest.
Suspect practices continue in legal trading, local NGOs say, with a lack of transparency that breaches international accords signed by the Czech government and indirectly encourages illegal trade. Concerns have been raised that many illegal small arms,... (GunPolicy.org)
No Regular Checks on Private Firearms
22 May 2003
Czech News Agency
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — The Chamber of Deputies today passed a bill under which private entrepreneurs will be able to dispose of unexploded ammunition and not only police as so far.
On the other hand, the Chamber rejected a proposal by the Trade and Industry Ministry which demanded regular controls over fire arms. Some politicians perceive the rejection as the result of various lobby interests, for instance, hunting associations.
Private persons who want to dispose... (GunPolicy.org)
New Regulation Allows Journalists To Carry Non-Lethal Handguns
29 January 2002
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Prague)
A number of journalists have been murdered over the past decade in Ukraine, and hundreds have been attacked and beaten. But all that may change with the recent passing of new regulations allowing members of the press to carry weapons in self-defense. RFE/RL correspondent Askold Krushelnycky was in the capital Kyiv and talked to journalists there about the new guidelines.
Kyiv, 29 January 2002 (RFE/RL) -- The pen may be thought to be mightier than the sword, but in... (GunPolicy.org)