Estonia wants to ban third country nationals living in the EU and NATO Baltic country from owning weapons. The Tallinn government on Wednesday approved amendments to the arms law introduced by the Interior Ministry, which have now been sent to parliament. According to the government, around 1,325 people who own a total of around 3,080 guns are affected by the regulation.
According to a radio report, most of them are Russian and Belarusian citizens living in Estonia. “Today we cannot take the risk that people who are citizens of a hostile foreign country will have a license to carry their own weapons and weapons here,” said Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets. “Out of ideology or civic loyalty, in some situations they may feel that they must take up arms here to protect the interests of their home country, and we have eliminated those risks with this law.”
With the entry into force of the regulation, firearms licenses for citizens of non-EU and non-NATO countries living in Estonia must remain valid for one year. After that, the gun owner must have one more year to hand over their gun. During this transition phase, this must be kept with the police. If the owner of the weapon fails to comply with the requirement within the specified time frame, the authorities will expropriate the weapon at the mid-market price, as explained by Läänemets in a statement.
The issuance of new firearms licenses must also be discontinued once the changes envisaged in the law take effect. According to the Interior Ministry, this can be expected early next year.