Editing Right to keep and bear arms (section)

====Czech Republic====

{{quote box|align=right|quote=
The right to acquire, keep, and bear firearms is guaranteed under conditions set by this law.
|source=Article 1 Subsection 1 of [[Gun law in the Czech Republic#Current law|Czech Firearms Act]]
|width=40%}}
{{quote box|align=right|quote=
(1) Everyone has the right to life. Human life is worthy of protection even before birth. <br />(2) Nobody may be deprived of their life. <br />(3) The death penalty is prohibited. <br />(4) Deprivation of life is not inflicted in contravention of this Article if it occurs in connection with conduct which is not criminal under the law. '''The right to defend own life or life of another person also with arms is guaranteed under conditions set out in the law'''.<ref name="Con am3">{{Citation
| last       = 35 Members of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
| year       = 2019
| title      = Proposal of amendment of Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
| location = Prague
| url        = https://www.senat.cz/xqw/webdav/pssenat/original/92773/77778
| access-date = 29 September 2017
| language   = cs
}}</ref>
|source=Constitutional amendment of Czech [[Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms]] passed in 2021. Most of the Article is preexisting; the last sentence in subsection 4 was newly added.
|width=40%}} {{Main|Gun laws in the Czech Republic}} {{further|History of Czech civilian firearms possession}}

Historically, the [[Czech Crown lands|Czech lands]] were at the forefront of spreading civilian firearms ownership.<ref name="zrizeni" /> In the 1420s and 1430s, firearms became indispensable tools for the predominantly peasant [[Hussite wars|Hussite armies]] whose amateur combatants, including women, fended off a series of invasions of professional crusader armies of well-armored warriors with cold weapons.<ref name="zrizeni" /> Throughout and after the Hussite wars, firearms' design underwent fast development, and their possession by civilians became a matter of course.<ref name="zrizeni" />

Their first firearms regulation was enacted in 1517 as a part of a general accord between the nobles and [[Burgher (social class)|burgher]]s and later in 1524 as a standalone Enactment on Firearms ({{lang|cs|zřízení o ručnicích}}). The 1517 law explicitly stated that "all people of all standing have the right to keep firearms at home" while at the same time enacting a universal carry ban.<ref name="zrizeni" /> The 1524 enactment set out a process of issuing of permits for carrying of firearms and detailed enforcement and punishment for carrying without such a permit.<ref name="zrizeni">{{cite web
 | last = Gawron
 | first = Tomáš
 | title = Historie civilního držení zbraní: Zřízení o ručnicích – česká zbraňová legislativa v roce 1524
 | trans-title = History of civilian firearms possession: Enactment on Firearms – Czech firearms legislation in 1524
 | work = zbrojnice.com
 | date = November 2019
 | url = https://zbrojnice.com/2019/11/01/historie-civilniho-drzeni-zbrani-zrizeni-o-rucnicich-ceska-zbranova-legislativa-v-roce-1524/
 | access-date = 1 November 2019
 | language = cs}}
</ref> Carrying became permitless until 1852, when Imperial Regulation No. 223 reintroduced carry permits. This law remained in force until the [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|1939 German invasion]].<ref name="zrizeni" />

Since its inception during the Hussite Wars, the right to keep firearms endured over five hundred years until the Nazi gun ban during the [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|German occupation]] in the 20th century. Firearms possession later became severely restricted during the [[History of Czechoslovakia (1948–1989)|communist period]]. After the [[Velvet Revolution]], the Czech Republic instituted a shall-issue permitting process, under which all residents can keep and bear arms subject to the fulfillment of regulatory conditions.<ref name="zrizeni" />

In the Czech Republic, every resident who meets conditions laid down in Act No. 119/2002 Coll.<ref name="Firearms Act">{{Citation
| last       = Parliament of the Czech Republic
| year       = 2002
| title      = Act No. 119/2002 Coll., on Firearms and Ammunition
| location = Prague
| url        = http://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/2002-119
| language   = cs
}}</ref> has the right to have a firearms license issued and can then obtain a firearm.<ref name="Firearms Act-p8">''Firearms Act'', Section 8</ref><ref name="Firearms Act-p16(1)">''Firearms Act'', Section 16(1)</ref> Holders of ''D'' (exercise of profession) and ''E'' (self-defense) licenses, which are also [[shall-issue]], can carry up to two concealed firearms for protection.<ref name="Firearms Act-p28(3)(B), 28(4)(C)">''Firearms Act'', Section 28(3)(B), 28(4)(C)</ref> The right to be armed is statutorily protected.

A proposal to have the right to keep and bear arms included in the constitution was entered in the Czech Parliament in December 2016.<ref name="Con am">{{Citation
| last       = Ministry of Interior 
| year       = 2016 
| title      = Proposal of amendment of constitutional act no. 110/1998 Col., on Security of the Czech Republic
| location = Prague
| url        = https://apps.odok.cz/veklep-detail?pid=KORNAGNGZSFW
| access-date = 16 December 2016
| language   = cs
}}</ref> The proposal was approved by a vote of 139 to 9 on 28 June 2017 by the Chamber of Deputies. It later failed to reach the necessary support in the Senate, where only 28 out of 59 Senators present supported it (with a constitutional majority being 36 votes).<ref>{{Citation
| year       = 2017
| title      = Právo nosit zbraň pro zajištění bezpečnosti Česka Senát neschválil [The Senate didn't adopt the right to carry a firearm for the purpose of protection of the Czech Republic]
| url        = https://zpravy.idnes.cz/zbrane-senat-pravo-bezpecnost-statu-ustava-novela-fw8-/domaci.aspx?c=A171206_215545_domaci_lre
| access-date = 6 December 2017
| language   = cs
}}</ref>

A new proposal was entered by 35 Senators in September 2019<ref>{{Citation
| last       = Senate of the Czech Republic
| year       = 2020
| title      = Detail historie tisku č. 135 [Detailed history of proposal No. 135]
| publisher  = Senate of the Czech Republic
| location = Prague
| url        = https://senat.cz/xqw/xervlet/pssenat/historie?ke_dni=17.8.2020&O=12&action=detail&value=4471
| access-date = 17 August 2020
| language   = cs
}}</ref> and then approved on 21 July 2021, adding a new sentence, according to which "the right to defend one's own life or the life of another person even with the use of a weapon is guaranteed under the conditions set by the law."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-21|title=The right to bear arms in self-defense is embedded in the Czech constitution|url=https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/right-to-arms-embedded-in-czech-consitution|access-date=2021-07-22|website=Expats.cz|language=en}}</ref> The provision is interpreted as guaranteeing legal accessibility of arms in a way that must ensure the possibility of effective self-defense<ref>{{cite book
	| last1 = Bartošek
	| first1 = Jan
    | last2 = Bačkovská
	| first2 = Milena
	| author-link = 
	| date = 2021
	| title = Zbraně a střelivo
    | language = cs
    | trans-title = Weapons and ammunition
	| url = https://search.mlp.cz/cz/titul/zbrane-a-strelivo/4634451/
	| location = Prague
	| publisher = C. H. Beck
	| page = 209
	| isbn = 978-80-7400-843-6
}}</ref> and as a constitutional stipulation which underscores the individual right to be prepared with arms against an eventual attack, i.e., that courts cannot draw a negative inference from the fact that a defender had been preparing to avert a possible attack with the use of weapons.<ref>{{cite book
	| last = Gawron
	| first = Tomáš
	| author-link = 
	| date = 2023
	| title = Nutná obrana v právní praxi
    | language = cs
    | trans-title = Necessary defence in legal practice
	| url = https://knihovna.usoud.cz/arl-us/cs/detail-us_us_cat-0054718-Nutna-obrana-v-pravni-praxi/?disprec=1&iset=1
	| location = Brno
	| publisher = Václav Klemm
	| page = 30
	| isbn = 978-80-87713-23-5
}}</ref>