On Thursday, a lawyer was shot dead when he entered a home during an eviction process. The shooter used an illegally held Soviet TT pistol, leading to some politicians calling for stricter gun control in the country.
Marius Šulga, a weapons enthusiast and owner of a gun shop in Vilnius, said illegal weapons in Lithuania are mostly found in the hands of criminals. The Soviet TT pistol used by the shooter was likely imported from Russia, Šulga said, adding that similar Soviet weapons in Lithuania have previously arrived from war zones, such as Chechnya and former Yugoslavia, or have been imported by criminal groups from Russia.
The market for illegal weapons will likely grow following the war in Ukraine.
Obtaining a gun legally is now a fairly straightforward process in Lithuania if you have no past criminal convictions, Šulga said. This means that those opting for illegal firearms are likely to be connected to criminal networks.
All legal weapons are registered at the time of import and the location of each gun is known to the police. Those wishing to obtain a weapon for self-defence or hunting must complete a training course and pass an exam under police supervision. There is also a medical check-up that needs to be repeated every five years.
“There is also the term ‘person of good repute’, meaning someone who has never been involved in a crime, which includes administrative offences like speeding. Thus the police can refuse to issue a permit because you are not of good repute,” said Šulga.
Stricter control?
Following Thursday’s shooting, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė and MP Julius Sabatauskas said there have been calls in the public for stricter gun control.
“We have to take a very responsible approach to the liberalisation of weapons. Because these are sensitive issues that can have complex consequences for public security,” Bilotaitė said. “Therefore, we are asked to take a responsible approach to the conditions for the possession and issue of weapons.”
Mantas Vilimas, a representative of the civil defence and security think tank Locked N Loaded, said the gun control issue is now being exploited by politicians in the run-up to Sunday’s parliamentary election.
“I don’t think we have a big gun problem in Lithuania,” he said. “[Politicians] imagine that you can just go to a shop and buy a gun, but that’s not the case.”
There are currently more than 100,000 legal guns in Lithuania. Around 10,000 people decided to purchase a weapon following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Statistics show that crimes are committed using both illegal and legal firearms.
Šulga criticised calls by politicians to impose stricter gun controls.
“The rules and procedures were created by the police under [the interior minister’s] supervision. There is no point in making additional changes because this would show she did not trust police officers,” said Šulga.
However, police trade union reps have criticised the updated procedures, which allow obtaining a gun permit remotely, without having to appear at a police station in person.
Meanwhile, Šulga also pointed at the Riflemen’s Union in Lithuania, a civilian paramilitary force, whose members can also own weapons. These firearms would be used for defending the country.
“Many people cite the United States as an example,” said Šulga, but regulation in Lithuania is very different.
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