35 armed out of 10,000 crimes in Armenia in 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net - Deputy Head of the Department on Public Order Provision, Colonel of Police Karen Mehrabyan said that Armenia has survived a war, due to which the level of proliferation of illicit arms is high in the country.

Presenting the procedure of application of the Law on Weapon, Mehrabyan told a press conference in Yerevan that the law regulates the practice of firearms usage and traffic.

There are three types of firearms: first, civilian weapons (for self-protection, hunting and sport), which can be purchased by any Armenian citizen above 18, submitting a relevant permission; second, duty weapons, which can be purchased by legal entities; third, combat weapons, which are used by the law-enforcement bodies, Defense Ministry and National Security Service.

Mehrabyan said that currently 45,822 samples of civilian weapon are registered in Armenia.

He added that amendments should be introduced to the law to tackle corruption risks. According to Mehrabyan 10,279 crimes were committed in Armenia in 2010, including 35 crimes with weapon, with 10% of them committed from registered weapon. Meanwhile, 70 crimes were committed with weapon in 2009.