A senator from Crimea proposed raising the age for issuing weapons permits due to the tragedy in Kerch
The Federation Council of the Russian Federation today honored the memory of the victims of the Kerch tragedy with a minute of silence, where 23 students and teachers of a polytechnic college died at the hands of a murderer, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Senator from Crimea Olga Kovitidi proposed legislatively raising to 21 the age at which citizens are allowed to own weapons.
“The globalization of society has led to the fact that our youth at the age of 18 are not ready to fully understand the responsibility for owning firearms. I think it is necessary to consider the issue of creating the right to provide weapons for all persons upon reaching the age of 21,” Kovitidi said.
At the same time, she noted that in various regions of the Russian Federation, by decision of local legislative assemblies, this age can be increased or decreased.
“If in the ranks of the armed forces, young people are under the control of their commanders. The weapon is kept under lock and key and ammunition is provided. And when hunting weapons are issued, they are freely available,” Kovitidi said.
She proposed holding parliamentary hearings of both chambers, with the involvement of the expert community and representatives of religious faiths.
Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko instructed the committees on defense and constitutional legislation to choose the correct format for discussing the problem.
“There are questions about how to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future. It is necessary to develop measures, possibly including changes to legislation,” Matvienko said.
A Crimean senator has proposed raising the age for issuing gun permits following the Kerch tragedy.