Czechs amend constitution to allow use of arms for self-defense

Prague, Jul 21 (EFE).- The Czech Parliament approved Wednesday a constitutional amendment recognizing the right to use arms in self-defense and to protect others, bucking the trend of stricter gun regulation in the European Union, CT24 television reported.

The upper house ratified the new article of the constitution, which had already passed the lower house.

The amendment states that “the right to defend one’s life or the life of others, even with the use of weapons, is guaranteed.”

“Disarming citizens does not bring more safety, because criminals get their weapons illegally,” Martin Cervicek of the center-right Civic Democratic Party said before the vote.

Cervicek, a critic of tighter gun laws across the EU, rejected the assertion that the amendment is merely symbolic, calling it possible “insurance for the future.”

Lawmakers drafted and adopted the constitutional amendment on gun rights in response to a citizen initiative that gathered 102,000 signatures. EFE

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