Czech Republic Weighs Proposal to Guarantee Citizens the Right to Bear Arms

By Jenn Jacques

A Czech minister is working to guarantee the right to keep and bear arms for his fellow citizens.

Interior Minister Milan Chovanec, who drafted the proposal, is optimistic it will be passed by the Czech Parliament, EURACTIV reported.

“I think that we have very good negotiating position to get 120 votes needed to pass in Chamber of Deputies,” Chovanec said.

Martin Plíšek, from the opposition TOP 09 party, balked at the idea of the measure, saying it was keyed to October elections.

“It is pure pre-election populism, because there is no need to set the right to possession of weapon by a constitutional law,” he was quoted as saying by EURACTIV.

“There are still some provisions full of contradiction in the proposal such as restricting the rights of legal owners, groundless limits for magazines capacity and also some sanctions and obligations for sport-shooters,” EURACTIV.cz was told by Czech MEP Dita Charanzová (ALDE) who is the vice-president of IMCO.

The Czech debate comes ahead of a vote by the European Parliament this month on restricting gun rights. Czechs who want the gun ownership amendment in their constitution see the proposal as a pre-emptive strike against possible EU gun ownership restrictions.

Supporters of the Czech measure say that …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms