The president had vetoed a law stating that guns and ammunitions could be temporarily taken or commandeered during an emergency situation or in case of war.
The president believes such legal regulation creates pre-conditions for taking guns and ammunition from all of their lawful owners in all cases once a state of emergency or martial law is declared, thus limiting the possibility of civic resistance to a potential aggressor.
Lawmakers today backed the proposal to amend this provision and ensure that guns and ammunition would be temporarily taken or commandeered only in exceptional cases when guns and ammunition are needed for the Lithuanian armed forces, or if there are grounds to believe they might be used for criminal activity.
The presidential proposal was backed by 77 lawmakers. And 23 MPs voted for the proposal to deem the law non-adopted.
The law is designed to transfer into national law a European directive initiated in response to jihadist attacks in Europe.