Seizures Show Bosnians Still Hoarding Illegal Weapons

In the first half of this year, the interior ministry in the Sarajevo Canton has confiscated several dozen guns and explosive devices as well as many thousands of illegally-owned pieces of ammunition.

The interior ministry said it had seized 27 pistols, 11 rifles, two explosive devices, four hand bombs and around 200,000 pieces of ammunition of various calibres held by people without legal permits from January to June 2016.

The scale of the seizures in the Sarajevo area is an indication of a nationwide problem with illegally-held weapons, many of them leftovers from the 1992-95 conflict in Bosnia and Hrerzegovina.

There are no official estimates of the exact number of illegal weapons in the country.

However, according to an estimate in research by the UN Development Project in 2010 and 2011, civilians hold around 750,000 firearms illegally, and since the end of the conflict in 1995, these weapons have played a role in over 10,000 deaths.

The European border agency Frontex also warned earlier this year of a danger of smuggled weapons from Bosnia and Herzegovina, where according to its estimates, there are around 800,000 illegal firearms.

Irfan Nefic, a spokesperson for the Sarajevo Canton interior ministry, said that between 100 and 150 criminal reports are filed each year about people carrying such weapons.

He said that in 98.5 per cent of crimes in which firearms are used to shoot or threaten someone, the perpetrator has no permit to own the weapon.

“In the vast majority of cases in which crimes are committed with a firearm, they are illegal weapons. Such weapons are confiscated and a criminal complaint is filed to the Sarajevo municipal court. The proposed punishment is six months to two years,” said Nefic.

Illegal firearms sold online
BIRN has been told by an informed source that it is possible to buy various types of illegal weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the internet without producing any permit to own them.

According to BIRN’s source, who asked to remain anonymous, old illegal weapons can be bought on social networks as well as via various websites.

A 9mm CZ pistol without permit costs around 1,800 KM (920 euros), while a 7.62mm TT pistol costs 700 KM (358 euros) and an M48 Zastava rifle costs 200 KM (102 euros), BIRN was told.

However these websites and social networks are being monitored by the security services and weapons sales made in this way have decreased lately, BIRN’s source said.

Many people continue to possess illegal weapons despite an ongoing campaign by the Bosnian authorities, entitled Zetra (Harvest), which aims to get people to citizens voluntarily hand over firearms left over from the war.

According to the Bosnian defence ministry, thousands of weapons have been confiscated and destroyed as a result.

Bosnian security expert Damir Alagic suggested that people continue to keep hold of illegal weapons out of fear of future conflicts.

“People in Bosnia and Herzegovina are afraid of war. It is one of the facts affecting the quantity of weapons that are possessed illegally,” Alagic told BIRN.

Nefic said that it is not possible to legalise weapons from the war because no permits for automatic rifles and explosive materials can be obtained from the interior ministry.

People can buy weapons for self-defence or hunting in licensed shops if they have permits, at prices ranging from 500 to 2,000 Bosnian marks (255 to 1,022 euros).

However, BIRN has found that in some cases, illegal military weapons from the war have been remodelled and registered as hunting weapons.

Police said that semi-automatic weapons are taken to armourer’s shops where they are remodelled as hunting weapons, which can involve taking any bayonet or grenade launcher extension off, and limiting the number of bullets that can be fired so they can be legally registered.

Alagic suggested that there is only a small difference between a top-quality hunting gun and sniper’s rifle.

“In some cases, a Papovka [Yugoslav semi-automatic rifle] which has been remodelled into a carbine is sold, but using the hunting carbine you can do as much damage as with a military sniper’s gun,” Alagic said.

Crime and terror threats
Nefic said that that 576 permits for firearms were issued to individuals in the Sarajevo canton alone in the first half of 2016, 14 more than in the same period in 2015.

He explained that pistols, revolvers, sports and hunting weapons can be purchased with permits. The minimum age for purchasing competition- shooting and hunting weapons is 18 years, and for pistols and revolvers 21 years.

“A citizen must have a justified reason for purchasing weapons. The most frequent ones are protection of personal security, carrying out certain jobs, specific work and tasks, competition shooting and participation in hunting societies,” he said.

In order to get a permit, it is necessary to provide a certificate confirming that the applicant has never been convicted, as well as a health certificate confirming that the applicant is capable of handling weapons.

“Police directorates form commissions that review applications for weapon permits. The legal timeframe for issuing a permit for purchasing weapons and ammunition is 30 days, if done according to a summary procedure, or 60 days if a special check procedure is performed,” Nefic said.

Jasmin Kujovic from the Sarajevo shop KM Trade, which legally sells weapons for self-defence and hunting, said people’s documents are checked before each purchase.

“Ammunition and weapons are sold only if a buyer presents a permit issued by the relevant police directorate which is responsible for registering and issuing permits specifying the number of pieces that can be sold or bought,” Kujovic said.

But security expert Alagic argued that the presence of so many weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina is dangerous, because they can be used for committing crimes or for potential terrorist attacks.

He said that because the Zetva weapons amnesty has not solved the problem, a state fund that would actually buy illegal weapons from people should be established.

“No matter how absurd the situation may look, it is the only realistic solution, in my opinion. Hand over a gun and get money. This is the only way to do it in a country in which people lack money,” Alagic insisted.

“I think the only solution, under the current circumstances, would be to determine the price of an automatic rifle, say 300 Bosnian marks [153 euros] or 500 Bosnian marks [255 euros], and try to reduce the number of illegally-possessed weapons,” he said.