A Delayed Farewell to Arms

6 February 2003 ZAGREB, Croatia (Feral Tribune)--Presumably you have read the stories in the dailies: It's been less than a month since the official end of the Interior Ministry's "Farewell to Arms" campaign (launched in 1992), and still no one can see an end to the stories of misuse of illegally obtained weapons. Two protagonists of the recent robbery of Splitska bank in Split, who wounded a bank officer and guard, were found to have a whole arsenal of ammunition and other weapons, enough to arm a whole platoon of the Croatian Army. An unlicensed handgun was also used in last week's shootout outside the Go-Go Cafe in Split. And at the time of writing, the hunt continues for the killer of a 25-year-old exchange office employee in Prelog (who was five months pregnant), but it's safe to assume that the guns used in this stakeout were obtained illegally too.

Indeed, if the Interior Ministry had not told us, we would have hardly guessed that the campaign against illegal arms was over--every day we read about citizens finding packages containing guns. In a city dump (near Ivanic Grad), near scenic roads (near Turopolje), in cafe toilets (Dubrava, near Vrbovac), and elsewhere.

In the Skradina hinterlands on the remote road between Cicvar and the village of Macura, seven mortar shells, four tromblone mines, one hand grenade, and 18 small arms were recently found. Luckily, these weapons were not found by children but by adults, who immediately informed the police.

Therefore, we can only guess how many illegal weapons are lying around in attics, under beds, in sheds, in pantries, in basements, and on top of wardrobes owned by Croatian citizens. Croatia has one of the highest numbers of registered weapon-owners in Europe: 236,000 people own 394 different types of registered weapons, which adds up to nine pieces per 100 people (the population of a large building).

In the Lika-Senj district, there are 20 registered weapons per 100 people, while the residents of the Medjimurje district only have three pieces per 100 people. It is interesting to note that as many as 15,000 Croatians have five or more registered weapons. Over the past year, police have seized a total of 4,447 weapons.

In the period between February 2001 and the end of 2002, a total of 11,064 requests for the legalization of various firearms were submitted. Out of 2,419 requests for legalization of pistols and revolvers, 1,018 were approved, and out of 6,687 requests for legalization of hunting weapons, 3,278 were approved. Out of 1,262 requests for legalization of semi-automatic weapons, 491 were approved.

From the beginning of the "Farewell to Arms" campaign until the present, over 1.6 million mines, hand grenades, and grenade launchers have been handed over to the police without repercussions for illegal possession. Just within the past two years, over 17,000 mortar shells, tromblone shells, and anti-infantry and anti-tank mines have been turned in to the police, along with possibly as many as 2,597 handheld anti-tank and anti-infantry rocket-launchers, over 43,000 types of hand grenades, 2,301,704 pieces of anti-infantry and anti-aircraft ammunition and projectiles, and 3748 kilograms of military and industrial explosives. Not to mention the 130 cassette bombs that have been turned in. These rates are over the top, even for a country that was at war.

"One of the key reasons for the widespread popularity of weapons springs from the fact that neither the previous nor the present administration has done anything to diminish the feeling of legal insecurity. They haven't introduced a legal and ethical environment whose stability would allow the government to maintain a monopoly on the use of brute force. This condition dates back to the end of the World War II," says Ivo Zanic of the School of Political Science.

With the exception of highly populated areas of Zagreb--where in the period between February 2001 and the end of December 2002, 1,324 weapons were handed in--the highest number of firearms in households could be found, not unexpectedly, in municipalities that were either occupied or attacked in the last war. Residents of the Osijek-Baranja district take the lead (572 weapons handed in), along with Pozega-Slavonia (533), Brod-Posava (466), and Karlovac (484) districts. The fewest automatic weapons were handed in by residents of Istra (59) and Krapina-Zagorje district (71), while in the "war-affected" Sibenik-Knin district, only 118 automatic rifles were handed in, in Vukovar-Srijem a mere 236, and in Zadar 351.

At the same time, the most bombs, mines, and other explosive weapons were handed in by residents of Zagreb (9,939) and Osijek-Baranja district (6,297), followed by residents of Sisak-Moslavina (6,703), Bjelovar-Bilogora (6,170), Brod-Posavina (5,555), Vukovar-Srijem (5,115), and Split-Dalmatia (4,519). The fewest bombs and similar lethal weapons were handed in by residents of Medjimurje (345) and Istra (516).

UNKNOWN QUANTITIES

The real problem is that no one can even estimate how many firearms still remain hidden in Croatian homes. During the war, guns were brought back from the front and taken from occupied Yugoslav People's Army [JNA] barracks freely, without any record. They were also bought and sold without any legal repercussions. Many defenders of Croatia, invalids, and war victims are today, in their homes, still holding on to "mementos" in the form of guns, hand grenades, and grenade launchers.

"You know, despite all the campaigns by police and organized military formations, there are some categories of people that you can never persuade to turn in their weapons, because they suffered so much during the war. They alone know how they obtained guns in critical times to save their lives, and they don't believe the danger from the east will ever be over," says Renato Selj, president of HVIDRA [the main veterans' association] of Crnomerec from Zagreb. He is one of the more active advocates of the "Farewell to Arms" campaign.

"Anyone who wants to legalize their weapons can do so. We are suggesting that the legalization should be halted, but the handing in of automatic weapons and explosives should be allowed to continue for a while longer without repercussions. One must bear in mind that weapons dealers' lobbies exert a lot of influence upon the trend of legalization of arms, because it is not in their best interest for it to stop, for they would then have no one to sell weapons to," says Selj. He adds that people are still bringing in and handing over their guns, and "there were even cases where they brought in fuel motors of rockets or projectiles for Orkan rocket-launchers."

"Those who hand in arms hand them all in. Experts estimate one registered piece is followed by three illegal ones. The only question is which kind," says Interior Ministry spokeswoman Zinka Bardic.

Zvonimir Knezovic, a leading professor of military psychology at Zagreb University's School of Philosophy, finds the reasons for such "enchantment" with guns in this region primarily in the "natural need for self-preservation and self-defense" generated by the horrors of war.

"Fear of a possible repeat of the situation of disarmament and the embargo on guns has placed some sort of trauma in people's heads. It is an example of the so-called deep emotional conditioning, which is superfluous at the moment. Experienced trauma should be taken into account in the process of disarming defenders of Croatia," says Knezovic, adding: "Fear of repetition of war is semi-rational, because NATO is now present in Bosnia, and while it is there, there is no danger that a new conflict will break out. Like others, Croats are susceptible to the proverb 'Prudence is the best policy,'" says Knezovic.

Regardless of how we choose to justify this abnormal and dangerous condition, the fact is that the number of armed Croats (with Interior Ministry licenses) has risen by 60,000 since 1990.

It is interesting to note that in 1990, 172,343 men and 3,702 women bore arms. Today the number of armed men has increased by 50,000, while the number of women in possession of firearms (9,752) has almost tripled compared with 12 years ago.

Just as in 1990, Croats are particularly fond of pistols, with 160,902 pieces licensed (104,848 to hold, 44,837 to hold and carry, 6,631 as souvenirs, and 4,586 used in the line of duty). Now multiply this by about three, and you will, I'm sure, think twice before cutting in front of some visibly nervous driver who might be one of the 500,000 Croatian citizens who won't leave their house without a handgun.

by Hrvoje Prnjak and Vladimir Urukalo. Translated by Ivana Petkovic