TALLINN. Feb 22 (Interfax) - The Estonian parliament on Wednesday passed amendments to the law On Weapons, under which weapon licenses shall be issued only to Estonian citizens or citizens of European Union and NATO member states having an Estonian residence permit or living in the country based on permission to stay.
"All people who do not have Estonian citizenship, citizenship of another European Union member state or citizenship of a NATO member state lose the right to own weapons in Estonia," Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets said at a press conference.
The amendments will affect 683 foreigners, mostly citizens of Russia and Belarus, and 595 non-citizens owning hunting and other weapons.
"Their weapons licenses will be invalidated, and the issuance of new licenses will be terminated. The licenses issued to persons with unspecified citizenship will remain valid until the date indicated on them, but no longer than five years. The licenses issued to the rest of the foreigners will be valid for one year," the parliament's press service said.
A transition period will enable weapons owners to adapt to the amendments, transfer their weapons, disable some of them, or change citizenship. "If necessary, weapons and ammunition will be expropriated," it said.
Under the new amendments, only foreigners having a good command of the Estonian language will be entitled to apply for a weapons license, considering that the relevant exam will be conducted fully in Estonian.
The new legislation will also add new grounds for denying an applicant a weapon license. In particular, a person who has committed serious crimes will never be allowed to apply for a weapon license.
The amendments were supported by 67 of the 101 parliamentarians and are to take effect on March 5.