Gun legalization after the Kyiv terrorist attack: when the right to self-defense may appear in Ukraine, and whether parliament is ready for it
Kyiv • UNN
After the terrorist attack in Kyiv on April 18, deputies returned to draft laws on civilian weapons. The documents provide for the creation of a register and the right to self-defense.
The tragedy of April 18 in Kyiv, where seven people died in a shooting, once again put the issue of Ukrainians' right to civilian firearms on the agenda. While the investigation into the circumstances is ongoing, disputes have intensified in society: whether the legalization of weapons can increase security, or, on the contrary, lead to new risks, writes UNN.
Last Saturday, April 18, Ukraine was shaken by terrible news. In Kyiv, an armed man opened fire on people, as a result of which six people died and another died a few days later in the hospital.
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The shooter was eliminated during his arrest in a Kyiv supermarket, where he barricaded himself and held hostages. According to the police, the terrorist act in Kyiv on April 18 began due to a domestic conflict.
According to the head of the National Police of Ukraine, Ivan Vyhivskyi, a conflict between neighbors escalated into a shooting. The man first used a traumatic weapon, and then returned with a firearm and set his apartment on fire.
Law enforcement officers responded to a call about a domestic dispute, but on the way, they received information that there was a shooter at the scene. When the police approached a child and were about to return to the car for a first aid kit, shots were fired.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, reported that the man who carried out the shooting had a registered carbine - he obtained the permit back in December 2025.
In addition, a video appeared online showing two police officers leaving the scene of the shooting in Kyiv without taking measures to neutralize the attacker.
Against this background, discussions about the legalization of weapons for self-defense have once again begun in Ukrainian society. Some argue that if Ukrainians had weapons with them, casualties could have been avoided. Others, on the contrary, emphasize that if passers-by had started shooting back at the shooter, there would have been many more casualties.
The issue of the right to civilian firearms has arisen in Ukrainian society a long time ago. The Verkhovna Rada has tried several times to legalize the right of Ukrainians to self-defense, but so far it has not succeeded.
Back in 2021, a group of people's deputies led by former Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrskyi, who at that time headed the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement, registered two draft laws: No. 5708 "On the Right to Civilian Firearms" and No. 5709 "On Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine for the Implementation of the Provisions of the Law of Ukraine 'On the Right to Civilian Firearms'."
Both documents were adopted in the first reading even before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in 2022, and since then the documents have been "stuck" in parliament.
Draft Law No. 5708
The document "regulates public relations arising during the civilian circulation of firearms, their parts, ammunition for firearms and their components, structurally similar products to weapons, defines the legal regime of ownership of firearms, their parts, ammunition for firearms and their components, structurally similar products to weapons, establishes the basic rights and obligations of individuals and legal entities in the process of handling them, and also regulates other public relations directly related to this, including in accordance with Ukraine's international obligations."
According to the draft law, capable citizens of Ukraine, foreigners, and stateless persons permanently residing in Ukraine have the right to obtain a weapon owner's certificate.
The draft law defines categories of firearms, the civilian circulation of which is allowed with restrictions:
- A – automatic firearms. Category A weapons can be owned by legal entities that have a license for the operation of shooting ranges and shooting galleries, the production of civilian firearms and ammunition for them, but in a quantity not exceeding five units of one model. Citizens (individuals) will not be able to acquire ownership of weapons of this category;
- B – smoothbore short-barreled firearms (traumatic). Persons who have reached the age of 25, have completed courses on the study of the material part of weapons, rules for handling them and their use, have the right to obtain Category B weapons;
- C – short-barreled (short) firearms, except smoothbore short-barreled (traumatic) weapons;
- D – long-barreled (long) smoothbore firearms. Persons who have reached the age of 21, have completed courses on the study of the material part of weapons, rules for handling them and their use, can own weapons of this category;
- E – long-barreled (long) rifled and combined firearms. Persons who have reached the age of 25, have completed courses on the study of the material part of weapons, rules for handling them and their use, meet the requirements specified in parts one and two of this article, and for whom there is no information about their commission of a violation of the procedure for storing, carrying or transporting firearms, ammunition for them two or more times within the last three years, have the right to obtain such weapons.
- I – deactivated, neutralized, antique firearms. Persons who have reached the age of 18 have the right to obtain such weapons.
It is envisaged that the right to obtain Category C weapons is granted to:
- persons who have reached the age of 30, who have legally owned Category B, D, or E firearms for more than five consecutive years, and for whom there is no information about their commission of a violation of the procedure for storing, carrying, or transporting firearms, ammunition for them two or more times within the last three years;
- persons who have reached the age of 18 and have participated in all-Ukrainian or international sports competitions at least twice a year and have a sports title not lower than master of sports in certain sports.
It is planned to establish that individuals can be awarded the "Personal Firearm" award and the departmental incentive award "Firearm", as well as firearms of any category, except category A.
To register weapons in Ukraine, it is planned to create a Unified State Register of Weapons, which is a functional subsystem of the unified information system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
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Weapon registration consists of a set of measures, which include:
- entering information into the Register, accumulating, generalizing, storing and transferring (providing) information about firearms, their owners, places of storage of firearms, documents for weapons and their users;
- checking documents that are the basis for obtaining a weapon owner's certificate and each category of firearms;
- checking information about the absence of any encumbrances according to the State Register of Encumbrances of Movable Property;
- conducting reconciliation, examining the marking of firearms and inspecting (if necessary) the technical condition of weapons;
- entering information about bringing firearm owners to administrative responsibility for violating the procedure for storing, carrying or transporting firearms, ammunition for them.
Weapon registration will be available to business entities engaged in the trade of firearms; notaries; units of the National Police; the Ministry of Internal Affairs, forensic expert institutions belonging to the sphere of management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Register consists of general and special records. The general record contains information about firearms, ammunition for them, main parts of weapons that have identification numbers, other objects, materials and substances.
The special record contains restricted access information about firearms that are in special circulation.
Information in the Register is stored for 30 years after its destruction/disposal, and information about its owners - for 15 years.
Who can own weapons
According to the draft law, firearms can be owned only by those individuals and legal entities who have a valid weapon owner's certificate with the appropriate weapon category. A weapon owner's certificate issued to a person for the first time is valid for two years from the date of its issuance, and each subsequent (extended) one - for five years. It indicates information about the individual or legal entity to whom the right to firearms has been granted, as well as the category of weapons that such person has received.
However, to obtain such a certificate, it will be necessary to pay a fee, the amount of which will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.
A weapon owner's certificate cannot be granted to a person if at least one of the following grounds exists:
- the presence of medical contraindications to handling weapons - the list of diseases will be established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
- the person has an unexpunged or unremoved criminal record;
- if the right to own a weapon has been terminated by a court.
In addition, persons who have been held liable during the year for
- illegal production, acquisition, storage, transportation, transfer of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances without intent to sell in small quantities;
- leaving the scene of an accident;
- driving a vehicle by a person for whom a temporary restriction on the right to drive vehicles has been established;
- driving vehicles while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs;
- violation of rules for handling weapons, as well as substances and objects that pose an increased danger to others;
- petty hooliganism;
- committing domestic violence;
- manufacturing and promoting the St. George (Guards) ribbon;
- bullying;
- gambling, fortune-telling in public places;
- illegal use of the name and signs of belonging to the National Police of Ukraine, the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine;
- malicious disobedience to a lawful order or demand of a police officer, a member of a public formation for the protection of public order and the state border, a serviceman;
- public calls for non-compliance with the requirements of a police officer or an official of the Military Law Enforcement Service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine
- violation of administrative supervision rules
- violation of rules for storing, carrying or transporting award, firearms, cold or pneumatic weapons and ammunition.
To obtain a weapon owner's certificate, you must submit:
- an application in the form established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine;
- a copy of the passport of a citizen of Ukraine and an extract from the Unified State Demographic Register regarding the registration of the place of residence (if there is a passport with a contactless electronic medium (ID card) or a permanent residence permit);
- identification code;
- a copy of a medical certificate (conclusion) on the absence of medical contraindications for obtaining a weapon owner's certificate;
- a copy of the document confirming payment for services for issuing a weapon document with the necessary details identifying the payer, recipient and having a bank mark or the code of the completed transaction.
Persons who intend to obtain a weapon owner's certificate for the first time must complete courses on the study of the material part of weapons, rules for handling them and their use, but servicemen, former and current law enforcement officers, athletes, foreigners and stateless persons who do not have a permanent residence permit in Ukraine and are obliged to export acquired firearms outside the territory of Ukraine are exempt from the obligation to complete the courses.
It is also forbidden to pledge weapons or ammunition for them and to indicate more than one person as the owner in the registration certificate.
Carrying and transporting firearms and ammunition for them
The document states that carrying firearms in Ukraine is prohibited, but owners of Category C, D, E firearms can carry weapons only: within the place of weapon storage; during hunting within hunting grounds; during shooting practice; during participation in sports events within shooting ranges, shooting galleries or stands.
Owners of Category B firearms have the right to carry weapons in any places, except for weapon-free zones.
Draft Law No. 5709
The specified draft law defines responsibility for the use of weapons, as well as cases in which they can be used. It should be noted that in the first reading it was envisaged that the use by a person of any weapon or any other means or objects in cases of: is not a criminal offense and excludes criminal liability:
- during defense against an attack by an armed person or group of persons;
- during defense against intrusion into private property;
- during defense against violent acts of a sexual nature in any form;
- during defense against a person found at the scene of a crime during the commission of a grave or especially grave crime, who attempts to escape from the scene of the crime with the use of force or with the threat of its use;
- during defense against an attack by animals that directly threaten human life or health, or to immediately prevent a real threat of such an attack.
However, in the second reading, these norms were excluded. People's deputies propose to supplement Article 36 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, according to which "the use of weapons or any other means or objects for defense against an attack by an armed person or an attack by a group of persons, as well as to prevent illegal violent intrusion into an apartment, residential building, other living premises, or homestead, is not an excess of the limits of necessary defense and does not entail criminal liability."
What the Rada says
People's Deputy, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement Yulia Yatsyk commented to UNN: "Perhaps, after the recent events, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General's Office, or other interested bodies will propose their own theses for amendments, as from the committee."
The committee meeting is scheduled for next (plenary) week. So we will see. But I don't think the adoption of this law will be quick. Rather, it looks like a lightning rod from the shameful situation in which the police found themselves.
Volodymyr Areshonkov, a member of the law enforcement committee, added in a comment to UNN that a committee meeting will be held approximately on April 27.
A decision may be made there on how we proceed with these draft laws. This week, consultations are being held at the level of committee members and interested parties.
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One of the authors of the law, MP Ihor Fris, wrote on Facebook: "The law on civilian firearms will finally be revived with the right of citizens to short-barreled firearms. Soon we will discuss the final draft of the law."
The key question regarding self-defense weapons is whether they come with the right to carry or not. You can throw stones at me. But I am in favor of the right to carry only after 2 years of obtaining the right to short-barreled weapons. Although, to be honest, we can discuss all of this. The key is draft law 5709. This is about changes in responsibility for the use of weapons. The committee almost destroyed it. And it needs to be restored in an edition that will ensure the right to weapons.
Criticism of the draft laws
Back in 2022, the Ukrainian Association of Weapon Owners criticized draft law No. 5708. The association pointed out that the document aims to legalize the old permit system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, create criminal liability for carrying one's own registered weapons, provide for the right to confiscation for any administrative offense, and the UAW also indicated that the draft law prohibits self-defense weapons.
Heorhiy Uchaikin, head of the UAW, commented to UNN that the Verkhovna Rada adopted draft law No. 5708 in 2022, which was already irrelevant for Ukraine at that time.
It was completely unacceptable. A draft law on weapons should address serious key issues. It should be based on the Constitution of Ukraine, it should guarantee citizens the opportunity to protect their lives. Accordingly, the Constitution says that the circulation of any things that require additional regulation should be regulated exclusively by law, and pistols should fall under this. Furthermore, we have the right to protect our lives. Regulate circulation and realize the right of citizens to protect their own lives. Is everything clear? But what are we talking about if this draft law does not allow citizens to exercise their right to protect their lives?
He notes that the document contains unclear norms, for example, that citizens can purchase some weapons from the age of 30 with a previous 5-year experience of owning other weapons only for storage at home.
It (the draft law - ed.) is not just irrelevant, it needs to be thrown into a shredder, ground up and forgotten.
According to him, it is necessary to focus on the fact that the law on weapons should regulate the right of citizens to defense, "however, there is still another side of the coin."
An adequate law on weapons should be at the foundation of the territorial defense concept. For example, when hostilities began near Kyiv, people first went with their own weapons. It was only later that they received standard automatic weapons. If there was an adequate law on weapons, and on it was the foundation of the law on territorial defense, then we could partially use the Swiss, Israeli, or Estonian models. When discharged from the Israeli army, citizens leave the service with automatic rifles. In the Swiss army, they all keep their weapons at home in reserve.
Answering the question of whether the legalization of weapons could lead to tragic consequences, he emphasizes: "Those who have a monopoly on providing armed security services may be very upset."
Criminals will be very upset, they will understand that any girl can have a pistol with her, and she has been properly trained and can simply stand up for herself, and it will not be possible to rob or rape her.