Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library

Print Close

SEESAC. 2019 ‘Firearm Collection and Destruction in Albania (2016).’ SEESAC Albania - 2012/2016 SALW Survey, p. 30. Belgrade: South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC). 18 December

Relevant contents

Albania's current firearms legislation does not permit the legalization of firearms. No firearms were voluntarily surrendered between 2012 and 2016. However, following the organization of a SALW awareness raising campaign from mid-November to mid-December 2016, the Albanian Government passed a four-month weapons amnesty from January to April 2017 offering "no penal prosecution and zero punishment to all those handing over arms before April 30, 2017." The amnesty reportedly resulted in the surrender of 1,863 SALW, 751,109 units of ammunition and 2,629 explosives by March 2017.

Following the looting of military storage depots in 1997 and an unplanned explosion at a munitions depot in Gërdec in March 2008, which killed 26 and injured 300, the Albanian Ministry of Defence and the Albanian Armed Forces committed to significantly reducing its ammunition stockpiles, including its small arms ammunition. Between 2012 and 2016, the Ministry of Defence destroyed a total of 23,953 tons of surplus SALW ammunition. The annual amount destroyed by the Ministry of Defence peaked in 2013 at 11,101 tons falling to 1,730 tons by 2016. The Ministry of Defence also destroyed 67,647 surplus SALW between 2012 and 2016. The ASP and the Ministry of Interior do not carry out destruction of surplus firearms or ammunition, passing them on instead to the Ministry of Defence for destruction.

Table 10: Summary of Albanian state SALW and SALW ammunition destruction, 2016

Number: Ministry of Defense - Police Ministry of Interior - Forestry - Customs - Corrections - Total
Surplus SALW destroyed:1,987 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1,987
Surplus SALW ammunition destroyed (tons): 1,729.6 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1,729.6

In 2012, the ASP reported 6,152,242 units of surplus firearms ammunition, which it reduced to 3,915,017 units for the remaining four years. This reduction was in line with new legislation relating to Ministry of Defense ammunition storage, destruction and other procedures. (19)

Notes
19. Decision No. 275, dated 01/04/2015 on Approval of the Regulation "On Conditions and Rules for the Safety of Weapons."

[ASP = Albania State Police
SALW = Small Arms and Light Weapons]

ID: Q16008

As many publishers change their links and archive their pages, the full-text version of this article may no longer be available from the original link. In this case, please go to the publisher's web site or use a search engine.

Array
(
    [type] => 8
    [message] => Trying to get property 'websource' of non-object
    [file] => /home/gpo/public_html/components/com_gpo/helpers/citation.php
    [line] => 153
)