21 Apr, 2026
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The Need for Weapons Law as a Foundation for Public Safety Legislation Development
Event
On April 18, 2026, in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv, a 58-year-old man opened fire, killing 6 people and injuring at least 10 others. The attacker, armed with a carabine, barricaded inside a supermarket and was ultimately neutralized by the KORD special unit.
Police officers (whose salaries include compensation for the risks of the profession) were patrolling the neighborhood but, lacking the necessary courage, did not attempt to protect civilians, left them in danger, and failed to assist the wounded.
CPLR’s assessment
Ukraine still does not have a law regulating the circulation of firearms, including their acquisition, storage, carrying, transfer, sale, manufacture, modification, repair, and other related activities.
This situation has remained unchanged even after April 2, 2013, when Ukraine acceded to the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
In this situation, the Supreme Court had no choice but to recognize a subordinate regulatory act as a law — namely, Order № 662 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine of August 21, 1998. This order approved the Instruction governing the procedure for the manufacture, acquisition, storage, registration, transportation, and use of firearms; domestically produced devices for firing cartridges loaded with rubber or similarly functional metal projectiles with lethal force; as well as ammunition for weapons and explosive materials.
It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court, having declined to uphold the judgements of Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Chernivtsi, the Kyiv District Court of Odesa, the Myronivskyi District Court of Kyiv Region, the Biliaivskyi District Court of Odesa Region, and the Vasylkiv City District Court of Kyiv Region – in all of which individuals had been found not guilty of crimes under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code (relating to the acquisition, carrying, and storage of weapons and ammunition, as well as carrying cold weapons, without permits required by law), reached a fundamentally opposite conclusion. In its decision of May 31, 2018 (case №127/27182/15-к), the Supreme Court stated: “The provision of Article 263 of the Criminal Code is subsidiary in nature and, in determining the unlawfulness of handling weapons, requires analysis of the relevant law. At the same time, the term “law” as used by the legislator, should be interpreted broadly to encompass legislation as a whole, including regulatory acts governing the relevant legal relations, the violation of which constitutes the objective element of the offense under Article 263 of the Criminal Code”. Thus, according to the Supreme Court’s interpretation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs Instruction must be treated as a Law of Ukraine. The cassation court adopted a similar position in another of its rulings.
On February 23, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted as a basis under an expedited procedure the draft Law “On the Right to Civilian Firearms”. Subsequently, on December 21, 2023, a comparative table was prepared for its second reading. However, no further progress has been made since then, despite the fact that this law was intended to serve as a foundation for the further development of legal regulation in the area of firearms circulation.
Notably, even the obligation to harmonize national legislation with Directive (EU) 2021/555 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 24, 2021, concerning the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons, has failed to prompt the authorities to expedite the adoption of this law as a whole.
The only legislative act adopted in this area in recent years was the Law “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Participation of Civilians in the Defense of Ukraine” aimed at improving the procedure for the acquisition, declaration, and handling of firearms” of August 20, 2024. However, this law narrowly focused on regulating only military-type weapons and it does so in an unclear and fragmented manner. Furthermore, it contains seven cross-references to various subordinate regulatory acts. These shortcomings once again highlight the urgent need for comprehensive codification of the relevant legislation and its systematic harmonization with legal frameworks. In particular, such harmonization should cover rules governing medical and psychological fitness assessments for individuals being issued weapons permits, psychiatric care standards, as well as regulations concerning whistleblower activities, hunting, operation of shooting ranges and training facilities, circulation of award, traumatic, and cold weapons and of UAVs, etc.
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