Gun use bill passed by lower house

Gun owners with legally-held firearms in the Czech Republic may soon be allowed to draw and use weapons in the case of a terrorist attack or other security situation, after a bill amending gun legislation received a constitutional majority on Wednesday in the lower house. One hundred and thirty-nine of 168 lawmakers present voted in favour. The bill is considered, at least in part, reaction to tightened restrictions on guns by the EU. Interior Minister Milan Chovanec, who pushed for the bill in Czech parliament, said it showed trust in owners of legally-held weapons; in the past, lobbying for the bill, he argued the law would be useful in such cases as the lorry attacks in Nice and Berlin where armed police might not be available. The proposal had been dismissed by critics as paving the way for a Wild West. The bill will now go to the Senate.