Montenegro: Development of Weapons Registration System
There are currently 105,000 registered small arms and light weapons in Montenegro and many more illegal ones. In other words, at least every sixth citizen owns a weapon. The widespread presence of weapons is directly linked to citizen insecurity and is detrimental to the development of the country. The numbers clearly demonstrate that Montenegro would significantly benefit from an electronic national system for registration and record-keeping of weapons owned by individuals.
It was based on this assumption that SEESAC and the government of Montenegro joined efforts in creating such a system. The new system is based on a software solution developed by Montenegro's Ministry of Interior while the necessary hardware was procured through a project financed by the European Union and implemented by SEESAC.
The project provided for the development of registry of legally owned weapons and for the conducting of administrative procedure for issuing a permit to purchase and to register a weapon, in accordance with applicable legal regulations. The project activities also provided for adequate technical infrastructure for the implementation of the weapons registration software.
The activity was funded by the European Union (EU), under the EU COUNCIL DECISION 2010/179/CFSP of 11 March 2010 in support of SEESAC arms control activities in the Western Balkans, in the framework of the EU Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition.
Additionally, the Ministry of Economy of Montenegro requested support from SEESAC for the organisation of an industry outreach workshop on licensing procedures of import and export of arms and military equipment. The focus of the event, which took place in Podgorica in May 2010, was to familiarize representatives of the arms industry with procedures for data gathering of information about the utilization of the export licenses.
