The Americans have calculated: Ukrainians have 4,4 million guns in their hands.
Ukrainians have about one million firearms officially registered in their hands, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
DW reports this , citing the National Police's response to the publication's request.
According to the Department of Preventive Activities of the National Police, as of July 31, 2018, citizens owned 892 thousand 854 firearms. We are talking about registered hunting rifles and smoothbore weapons.
As explained by the head of the Ukrainian Association of Weapons Owners Georgy Uchaikin, by smooth-bore hunting weapons the police mean classic hunting rifles - the so-called “double-barreled shotguns” and pump-action shotguns. By rifled weapons we mean, for example, civilian versions of the Kalashnikov assault rifle and sniper rifles, rifled hunting carbines.
The police noted that since 2013, the number of firearms in the hands of Ukrainians has fluctuated between 800 and 900 thousand. At the end of 2016, more than 920 thousand firearms were registered with police departments.
At the same time, according to estimates of the Ukrainian Association of Weapons Owners, at least 1,5 million Ukrainians own 2,5 units of registered weapons.
It is noted that each owner must undergo the re-registration procedure for weapons every 3 years, and citizens often do not comply with this rule.
At the same time, according to Uchaikin, citizens of Ukraine also own short-barreled weapons. He calls the situation “catastrophic.”
According to statistics from the Ukrainian Association of Weapon Owners, in Ukraine there are at least 300 thousand traumatic pistols in the hands of citizens.
According to the American analytical company Small Arms Survey, in 2017, Ukrainians had a total of about 4,4 million legal and illegal weapons.
Americans have calculated that Ukrainians have 4,4 million guns in their possession.