Czech cabinet backs Senate proposal to enshrine right to armed self-defence

The government has backed a Senate proposal to amend the constitution to stipulate the right to defend oneself with a legally held weapon, Minister of Justice Marie Benešová told journalists late on Monday.

Hunters, gamekeepers and sport shooters launched a petition to amend the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms several years ago in reaction to the European Commission’s effort to restrict the possession of weapons, including legally possessed ones.

Benešová said the decision to back the Senate proposal came after a heated debate. Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar said that he was among the cabinet members who initially were against the proposal but had changed his mind due to the changing security situation.

The EU introduced tighter controls on firearms two years after a series of coordinated assaults by Islamist extremists in Paris in 2015, including restrictions on the private use of semiautomatic rifles, a move that the Czech Republic fought in court.