In Russia, for a long time, any circulation of weapons and ammunition to it has been controlled in accordance with the federal law "On Weapons". It clearly regulates the rules for the acquisition, sale, movement and storage of cold steel and firearms, which can harm human health and even take their life.
However, an unhealthy trend has recently been observed, because an increasing number of civilians are beginning to acquire these items, and quite often they do not even know the elementary rules that are imposed on their storage and wearing. You should be aware that such carelessness can lead to criminal punishment, since there is an article in the Criminal Code "Illegal possession of weapons and ammunition." Exactly what constitutes such storage and what is the responsibility for it will be described later in the article.
Definition
Before considering the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on illegal possession of weapons, one should understand what exactly the legislator invests in this concept. In fact, such a crime is considered serious enough, especially if a firearm is considered that could be harmful. It is precisely because of the high destructive power of such military equipment that there are a number of rules that a citizen must observe in cases where he does not want to receive a punishment under the article on illegal possession of weapons.
First of all, anyone who wants to legally own a weapon must undergo special training. Usually it lasts about 3 months. During training, the future owner can become familiar with how to properly store and carry a combat item. In addition, one of the necessary actions is to obtain a certain license in the relevant authority, and after the purchase also permission and registration. If any of these rules was ignored, then we can directly say that such carrying and storage of weapons will be illegal, and therefore can be punished by a fine or even imprisonment.
Therefore, you should think several times before acquiring military equipment and secretly shelter them in your home, since the consequences can be very unpleasant.
Types of weapons
According to the article on illegal possession of weapons in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it can be conditionally divided into several types. It depends on what type was found in the offender, and the charge and subsequent punishment will depend.
However, any weapon, regardless of its type, is divided into 3 categories - military, service and civilian. Only state structures and legal entities that receive it by virtue of their authority are entitled to own and use, as well as store military and service weapons.
Civilian weapons are a regulated category, since a citizen of the Russian Federation has the ability to store a limited number of firearms used for self-defense, training, hunting, or other activities.
Steel arms
First of all, we will consider what constitutes melee weapons, and what the responsibility under the article on the illegal possession of weapons will be for it.
At the moment, only those items are considered to be cold steel that, by their specialization and design, are intended solely to inflict injury. That is why it can be attributed only to what meets all the requirements of GOST, and is also sold only with a license.
An ordinary kitchen knife, no matter how sharp it may be, will never be counted as a melee weapon, but only a household one, even if a crime has been committed with it.
Such a strict restriction is intended not to classify ordinary household items as this type of military equipment and to mistakenly not use the article on illegal possession of weapons in practice.
Responsibility
At the moment, the carrying and illegal possession of weapons in the articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not regulated in any way, although previously there was criminal liability for such a crime. She was expelled back in 2003, and therefore if the weapon did not commit an unlawful act, then there will be no punishment.
The only liability in the field of knives comes only for their illegal manufacture and trafficking, which are noted in article 222 of part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Traumatic weapon
Traumatic weapons are recognized as one of the varieties of firearms. It works with gas and can be harmful only at short or medium distances, but not at long distances. Due to the limited radius of destruction, it is much less dangerous than other types of firearms, but the rules apply to it the same as to all other types of weapons, without exception, so you need to store it, adhering to clear rules.
Administrative responsibility
Unfortunately, the article on criminal liability was also deleted in the new edition of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and therefore, in this situation, you should focus on the Code of Administrative Offenses.
In the Code of Administrative Offenses, an article on illegal possession of weapons, and indeed on the rules for their storage, is posted under number 20.8. The criminal liability for such a crime was removed only in 2010, after the Federal Law No. 398 was issued.
At the moment, for ordinary citizens who illegally keep traumatic weapons, the following types of punishment are provided:
- Administrative fine in cash from 3 to 5 thousand rubles. For officials - from 5 to 15 thousand, and for legal - from 500 thousand to half a million rubles.
- Administrative arrest for a period not exceeding 15 days.
In addition to the above penalties, an individual is completely deprived of his weapon, and all available cartridges are also confiscated.
Smoothbore weapon
Separate punishment follows illegal possession of smoothbore weapons. Article 222 of the Criminal Code does not directly provide for carbines that are used for hunting, since they have a lower aiming range, and they do much less harm than combat models. Of course, in order to legally use and store it, you should also issue a license and a subsequent permit, but they will be punished under the article on illegal possession of weapons, which is enclosed in the Code of Administrative Offenses, and not in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
In part 6 of Article 20.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, sanctions for a person caught in a similar offense are clearly discussed: a fine of 3 to 5 thousand rubles, arrest for a period of not more than 15 days, as well as confiscation of weapons and ammunition.
Moreover, in some cases, even for illegal possession of such a type of weapon can be judged by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but only when serious damage to health or death was inflicted on the person with it. In this situation, article 224 of the Criminal Code will be applied.
Firearms
Article 222 of the Criminal Code provides for the punishment for illegal possession of firearms, which can be used to hit a target mechanically (at a different distance) due to powder or other charges. Parts of such weapons, ammunition and explosive devices with substances are also taken into account here, since liability can come for any of these weapons.
Now consider the existing sanctions in more detail:
- First of all, in the first part of this article, it is established what punishment may occur if storage was carried out without any qualifying features. The following measures are listed as punishment: up to 4 years of imprisonment, up to six months of arrest, up to 4 years of forced labor, as well as an additional penalty, a fine of up to 80 thousand rubles is given.
- The second part of Article 222 deals with a crime committed with the participation of several persons acting in a preliminary conspiracy. In this case, the amount of the fine increases to the amount of 100 thousand, and the punishment is up to 6 years in prison.
- In the third part - information about the situation when the crime was committed by an organized criminal group. The fine will already be much more serious - up to 200 thousand rubles, and the term of imprisonment remains the same - that is, up to 6 years.
Conclusion
As you can see, in Russia, both the authorities and citizens are quite specific about different types of weapons. On the one hand, you can get it, but for this you first need to get a huge amount of certificates and other pieces of paper. Therefore, it is so important to know this law for everyone, because ignorance of storage rules can ultimately lead to a huge number of problems, up to and including imprisonment or a huge fine. You should carefully consider this issue and find out all the nuances beforehand, and not after the acquisition of weapons.