Kyiv shooting sparks gun ownership debate in Ukraine

The killing of seven people by a gunman in Kyiv has ignited debate in Ukraine over who should be allowed to carry weapons, with many pushing for a loosening of the country’s strict gun laws.

The motive of the shooter, who was born in Moscow, lived in eastern Ukraine, and opened fire with a registered weapon around a supermarket in the capital on Saturday, remains unclear.

In the days since, shock has given way to anger that two law enforcement officers — since suspended — apparently fled the scene. Calls have been made for Ukrainians to be able to defend themselves.

“I don’t know how many more innocent people will have to die before everyone understands the reality we are facing today,” Oleksandra Ustinova, a member of the parliament committee on domestic security, wrote on Facebook.

Gun ownership rules in Ukraine are strict. Handguns are de facto banned, and licences for other higher-calibre weapons like hunting rifles are issued under strict criteria.

Fewer than 10 per cent of households in Ukraine retain a weapon, according to estimates from the Small Arms Survey, a Switzerland-based analysis group.

It was written in a December report that Russia’s 2022 invasion had not triggered a significant surge in civilian firearm possession in Ukraine.

Authorities distributed thousands of small guns to Ukrainians when Russia invaded, later tightening control mechanisms and stepping up seizures, the Small Arms Survey has said.

As few guns as possible

In another survey, it also said, however, that some 42 per cent of Ukrainian men who do not currently possess a firearm would like to.

Some women would also say they would feel better armed.

“Nothing gives you a feeling of security as knowing you have something with which to defend yourself,” former combat medic Kateryna Galushka wrote on Instagram this week.

“Nothing is more frustrating, in this regard, than the absence of a single law on civilian firearms, self-defence, and stricter oversight of the licensing system,” she added.

The day before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, parliament approved draft laws regulating civilian firearms possession and their use for self-defence. They have not been passed.

The bill’s lead author, Igor Fris, a member of parliament with the ruling party, suggested the Kyiv shooting might not have happened if civilians were allowed to carry weapons.

He told AFP that would-be criminals might be deterred from acting, knowing civilians may be armed.

“On the other hand, we are currently in a state of war. A large number of people are in a rather heightened emotional state. Raising the possibility of carrying such weapons is certainly conceivable, but only with a certain transition period,” he added.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said after the shooting that discussions on possession would be restarted.

Not everyone agrees that more weapons are good.

MP Inna Sovsun wrote on Instagram that it was “really strange” to discuss making weapons more widely available when the shooter’s weapon was registered.

“I want there to be as few guns as possible around my child, but at the same time I want there to be police officers who can protect them when necessary,” she wrote.

AFP