The All Who Are Not Indifferent initiative calls for the tightening of weapons legislation, and according to its representatives, access to semi-automatic assault rifles and silencers should be limited. At the same time, according to them, psychological fitness should be investigated for the acquisition of weapons, and psychotests, for example, should be periodically repeated. The initiative wants to convince politicians of the need for an effective change in laws in response to the December shooting at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University (FF UK), where its student killed 14 people, injured 25 and then shot himself. The intention of the initiative was presented to journalists today in Prague by its representatives. It brings together, for example, some students and teachers from the Faculty of Arts of the UK as well as some survivors of the December tragedy.
“We are convinced that the tragedy that took place on December 21 last year at our faculty was made possible, among other things, by the fact that a mentally unstable individual with certain violent suicidal, homicidal tendencies had too easy access to weapons,” said the philosopher and pedagogue from FF UK Václav Němec. The citizens’ initiative started working in early September, its representatives said. They started a petition that has about 200 signatories so far. The initiative also wants access to firearms to be explored in the social debate on mental health.
From 2026, a new Arms and Ammunition Act will come into effect, requiring gun dealers to report suspicious transactions. It also introduces the ability to confiscate firearms due to a security risk or reduce the period for medical examinations for gun owners from ten to five years. It also includes the possibility for the police to order this search at any time. At the same time, the Chamber of Deputies is debating a proposal according to which sellers of weapons and ammunition would have to report suspicious purchases even before the new law comes into force. At the beginning of September, it was supported by the House Security Committee. According to the proposal, the police should also get wider options for securing weapons earlier.
According to the initiative, the measures introduced by the amendment and the new law are insufficient and will not be able to prevent the recurrence of similar tragedies in the future. According to the German, there is not much time for changes, according to him, there is minimal space in the amendment that is in the House of Representatives. “Now our hopes are rather attached to the amendment law, which is supposed to introduce some modifications to the recently approved laws on weapons and ammunition and ammunition,” said Němec.
More petitions to restrict access to weapons were created after the shooting at the FF UK, one was created in December, for example, by students of the faculty.
Source: www.tyden.cz
