All the gunpowder is in the flasks: the federal cadastre of weapons will appear in Russia

A single federal platform where data on all civilian and service weapons will be stored will appear in Russia. Such a bill was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. Back in 1996, the country already had such a cadastre, but it existed in the legislation as a "collection of systematized information." His legal status has not been determined. The inclusion of data in the future federal register will be the basis for the turnover of a particular type of weapon on the territory of Russia, the explanatory note clarifies. The existing accounting and control mechanisms do not always make it possible to quickly track the movement of weapons, experts confirm. How the amendments will work is in the Izvestia article.

Why do I need a federal cadastre?

A single data platform on civilian and service weapons and ammunition can be created in Russia. Such a document, developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was approved on July 14 by the government commission on legislative activity (available to Izvestia). This was reported by sources in the Cabinet.

The amendments will reform the existing cadastre of civil and service weapons and ammunition, as well as significantly expand its functionality, said Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Bobylev

—The cadastre will now be a federal state information system that will ensure the collection of information and documents confirming this information, processing, analysis, storage and provision of systematized information about civilian and service weapons and ammunition," he explained.

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Currently, Russia has an AIS "Cadastre" — this system is called the same as the future federal platform — "Cadastre of civil and service weapons and ammunition for it." However, according to the law on weapons, the existing list "is an official collection containing systematic information" about a particular object. It includes data on models of civilian and service weapons that have passed the mandatory conformity assessment procedure.

The legal status of the information contained in the AIS Cadastre is "not defined by the legislation of the Russian Federation," the explanatory note to the amendments notes. The new platform "will allow tracking the stages of the life cycle of civilian weapons from the moment of manufacture, import into the Russian Federation or export from the country, accounting for additional information, and more." The inclusion of information in the cadastre will be the basis for turnover in Russia.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Mamontov

The government is being given the authority to prepare and adopt the regulations on the FGIS "State Cadastre of Civil and Service Weapons and ammunition" — it will regulate the procedure for creating, forming, developing and operating the registry, said the Chairman of the Board of the AYUR.

"Rosstandart will remain the direct operator of the cadastre," he stressed. — The amendments also provide for the formation of electronic passports, that is, documents that contain systematized information about civilian and service weapons, issued in accordance with the established procedure.

The bill continues to implement work on the digitalization of government agencies and will create conditions for the collection, generalization, processing, analysis and storage of information about weapons using information technology, Vladimir Gruzdev added.

The shadow arms market

Arms trafficking in Russia is regulated by the federal law "On Weapons" and a number of by-laws, explained Vladimir Kuznetsov, chairman of the All-Russian Trade Union of Mediators. The control system includes licensing of purchases, storage and carrying permits, as well as periodic inspections of owners.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexey Sukhorukov

"However, despite the existing measures, the problem of insufficient control over arms trafficking remains relevant," he said. — Unfortunately, we periodically encounter tragic incidents when weapons end up in the hands of people suffering from mental disorders, or those who should not own them.

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The existing accounting and control mechanisms do not always make it possible to quickly track the movement of weapons, their owners and their health status, the expert noted.

—The lack of a single, promptly updated database creates "gray areas" that unscrupulous individuals can use," he said.

The volume of illegal weapons, according to estimates by the Geneva Institute for International Studies and Development, is twice as high as the number of weapons that the state has not been notified about — 11 million units in 2021.

Photo: Global Look Press/Gene Blevins/ZUMAPRESS.com

As long as such weapons do not "surface" during the investigation of crimes or as a result of denunciation, it is not possible to identify "collectors", said Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the analytical agency VMT Consult.

"The abundance of obstacles to obtaining licenses for the purchase, storage and use of firearms, introduced annually, spurs the underground market: it is easier to pay than to spend a huge amount of time and resources on the possibility of purchasing weapons," she said.

How the changes will work

When the law comes into force, the underground market will begin to grow at the expense of weapons produced before 1994, as they do not qualify for registration in the cadastre, Ekaterina Kosareva believes.

Photo: Global Look Press/Thomas Frey/imagebroker.com

"At the same time, the functioning of the cadastre can improve control over the legal circulation of weapons," the expert believes. — This will increase transparency and speed up the response in case of losses, theft or crimes involving the use of legal weapons.

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The federal law "On Weapons" is aimed at protecting the life and health of citizens, property, ensuring public safety, protecting nature and natural resources, and strengthening international cooperation in combating crime and illegal proliferation of weapons, judicial expert Ilya Vasilchuk believes.

"But this law clearly lacked the necessary level of digitalization," the expert believes. — The creation of an electronic passport for civilian and service weapons and ammunition will allow us to systematize and speed up the response time of control authorities, which means making our lives safer.

According to Vladimir Kuznetsov, among the advantages of creating a single platform are increased control and transparency. Experts believe that the situation in the sphere of arms trafficking will change significantly.