Civil weapon

The concept of "civilian weapons" in one form or another exists in the legislation of almost all states, or in international agreements ( conventions ) ratified by the legislative authorities of these states. From the definition of the term “civilian weapons” in the regulatory legal acts of a particular state, which objects in a given state relate to weapons in general and to civilian weapons in particular depend. In the strict sense of the word, weapons can only be civilian in countries with a republican form of government , in countries with a monarchical form of government we can talk about arming citizens, however, hereinafter in the article these two concepts will be considered related to each other under the general name “civilian” weapons. "

The right to possess weapons of civilians has a dialectical basis. As noted by the doctor of historical sciences , academician A. I. Fursov , an armed man is a very poor object for exploitation ^[1] .

In Great Britain and the countries of the British Commonwealth , with the exception of the most distant periphery of the imperial colonies, in the metropolis (on the British Isles ), the population is traditionally prohibited from owning any weapons other than hunting and antique collectibles, which only wealthy royal subjects could afford.

After the separation of peaceful and military labor functions in the VIII - IX centuries. the civilian population of European kingdoms , principalities , counties , electors , bishoprics and other subjects of international legal and commercial relations in the era of feudal fragmentation was deprived of the right to own weapons, which became the privilege of feudal lords at various levels. This led to the fact that part of the population, who did not want to live under feudal oppression and did not agree with the ban on possession of weapons, was confused in gangs engaged in robbery , assault on feudal lords and feudal dependent settlements. In northeastern Europe and Russia , since feudalism in Russian lands did not develop “in depth”, but “in breadth”, the process of separation of production functions did not affect the possession of weapons of a free and partially free ( robic ) population due to the threat of raids by nomadic peoples disarmament of the population occurred much later than in Western and Central Europe - with the beginning of the Horde period of Russian history ; the Balto-Slavic pagan tribes who resisted violent Christianization remained the longest in the Priarjazi lands and on the territory of modern Poland , Belarus , Polesye , as well as residents of the Novgorod Republic and its allies - the principalities of North-Western Russia . The division of labor functions into military and civilian had a number of cultural, historical and geographical prerequisites ^[1] .

In the modern European Union , the legislation of various member states of the Union provides for various measures to regulate the circulation of arms in the hands of civilians, as a rule, samples of traumatic weapons for self-defense, sports and hunting are allowed for sale, storage and storage with the appropriate permission of state control bodies weapons.

In the Russian Federation, the acquisition, storage and carrying of civilian weapons is possible with the appropriate permits received in the manner prescribed by law in the licensing system, for persons who own premium weapons , permits are not required from the licensing system, enough awarding documents issued by a specific an official - a representative of a government authority who has decided to award, nevertheless, award weapons, in contrast to A retired civilian cannot be alienated (donated or sold) to third parties, and in the event of the death of the owner or other circumstances that preclude further disposal (without formally challenging the right of ownership ), it is transferred for storage to museum institutions or to local internal affairs bodies.

Some activists and interest groups advocate the legalization of short-barreled firearms for the population.

The first British colonists in Virginia (then they were not yet called colonists) did not have either firearms or cold steel in their hands. The muskets , broad broadswords and lances were stored in a room specially equipped for this purpose ( weapons storage room ) in the residence of the authorized representative of the Virginia company and were given out to settlers by his decision in case of a threat from the indigenous population (Indians), as well as during punitive raids on Indian settlement. Responsible persons of the company conducted a series of experiments with the issue of arms to the population (at first, almost the entire population of Virginia, with the exception of several women), they were even allowed to conduct fire training classes on their own, however, it was strictly forbidden to give or sell weapons to “savages” (indigenous people), as well as teach them how to shoot. Later, with the abolition of the Virginia company, in the territories of which the first British settlers in the North American continent lived and with the expansion of the British territories, the rights of the adult male population (colonists) regarding possession of firearms were expanded with respect to the storage of weapons at home and a number of other preferences, however, to the owners it was forbidden to keep fireplugs at home (which was a criminal offense, equivalent to rebellion) - smoke powder was surrendered by the population to representatives of the royal administration and was stored in royal powder warehouses or in cellars , and then issued to citizens upon request for hunting large and small game , as well as for other needs with an entry in the register of issued fire stocks - to whom, when and how much gunpowder was handed out. With the growth of national self-identity and self-identification by the inhabitants of the colonies not as British citizens of the inhabitants of the North American continent, but as Americans , the separate storage of weapons and ammunition for it became increasingly important for the royal administration, as one of the ways to prevent separatist treachery, and for the supporters of the acquisition of partial colonies autonomy or full state sovereignty (whose views ranged from moderate to radical anti-British pro-British) ak pretext to incite citizens indicating that the royal administration does not trust the king's subjects, "afraid" of its own population, and so on. The modern American practice of storing weapons and ammunition at home began to spread only after the end of the War of Independence of the North American Colonies and far from immediately, gradually spreading from west to east, from residents of remote areas ( frontier ) who experienced the least control from the royal administration in the years of dependence on the British Empire and the practical absence of any control whatsoever in the early years of independence.

At the present historical stage, depending on the legislation of the states and administrative-territorial units with a special management status , citizens may either be strictly prohibited from owning weapons (mainly in large cities of the country), or not only the acquisition and possession of weapons, but also their storage and free wearing without any permits with the condition that the weapon is carried openly, in the sight of surrounding fellow citizens (mainly in sparsely populated areas). A restriction common to all states is the hidden carrying of weapons, which in the United States is allowed only to employees of federal law enforcement agencies and state security ( Federal law enforcement agencies ) in the performance of their official duties - more than a hundred subjects of operational-search activity at the federal level, rules carrying weapons for which are regulated by federal laws and departmental instructions, as well as state police and municipal police officers (department Comrade, offices, plots), to bear arms rules for which are regulated by each individual state and the particular population center on their own.

• The right to arms (movement)