The third gun amnesty was greenlighted by Parliament on Thursday and is set to come into effect as of December 1. The legislation is designed to reduce the number of illegal firearms in Slovakia, and to reduce the risk of people using such firearms in criminal acts, with it being approved by 130 out of 131 lawmakers in parliament.
In addition, the amnesty is set to be in place from December 2014 to May 31, 2015. During these six months, people will be able to hand over their illegally held or unregistered firearms to any police department without any fear of legal repercussions. The guns will then be subject to ballistic examination and people will be given a chance to claim legal ownership of these arms legal within a designated period. Otherwise, the gun will become the property of the state. According to statements made by Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák in July, the number of crimes committed using firearms has shrunk by 50 percent since the first gun amnesty was called in 2005. For example, while a total of 440 such crimes were committed in 2004, last year saw only 214. The first gun amnesty was launched in 2005, lasted one year and netted 3,463 guns. The second one was completed in July 2010 and secured 4,367 firearms.
