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| Ukraine Sets Deadline for Militias to Surrender Illegal Guns | Ukraine Sets Deadline for Militias to Surrender Illegal Guns |
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| KIEV, Ukraine — In an effort to stabilize Ukraine and extend its authority, the interim government has set a deadline of Friday for turning in the illegal firearms that are now carried openly by so-called self-defense groups in Independence Square, the politically important plaza in the center of the capital. | KIEV, Ukraine — In an effort to stabilize Ukraine and extend its authority, the interim government has set a deadline of Friday for turning in the illegal firearms that are now carried openly by so-called self-defense groups in Independence Square, the politically important plaza in the center of the capital. |
| The order was seconded on Thursday by the French ambassador to Ukraine, Alain Rémy, who said the disarmament of the militias that helped overthrow the former government is a central requirement for the European Union to begin disbursing financial aid, along with the government fighting corruption. | The order was seconded on Thursday by the French ambassador to Ukraine, Alain Rémy, who said the disarmament of the militias that helped overthrow the former government is a central requirement for the European Union to begin disbursing financial aid, along with the government fighting corruption. |
| Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who was a staunch supporter of the protesters but never condoned violent tactics, set the deadline for Friday, the day Ukraine is scheduled to sign the political articles of an association agreement with the European Union. | Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, who was a staunch supporter of the protesters but never condoned violent tactics, set the deadline for Friday, the day Ukraine is scheduled to sign the political articles of an association agreement with the European Union. |
| “For those who want to defend their country with an assault rifle in their hands, welcome to the National Guard or the Army,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said in a speech this week. | “For those who want to defend their country with an assault rifle in their hands, welcome to the National Guard or the Army,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said in a speech this week. |
| Members of the self-organized defense groups that formed to defend Independence Square and other protest sites during the uprising have been reluctant to comply. Like gun owners in countries like the United States and Switzerland where ownership of firearms is widespread, they contend that the weapons are needed to defend the country against a possible foreign invasion and to defend their freedoms from potential government abuse. | Members of the self-organized defense groups that formed to defend Independence Square and other protest sites during the uprising have been reluctant to comply. Like gun owners in countries like the United States and Switzerland where ownership of firearms is widespread, they contend that the weapons are needed to defend the country against a possible foreign invasion and to defend their freedoms from potential government abuse. |
| “It’s not normal to ask people to hand in their weapons in the situation we have now,” Dmytro Yarosh, the leader of a right-wing paramilitary group, Right Sector, said in an interview this week. His organization opposes the request to surrender its weapons, but will comply with the law, he said. | “It’s not normal to ask people to hand in their weapons in the situation we have now,” Dmytro Yarosh, the leader of a right-wing paramilitary group, Right Sector, said in an interview this week. His organization opposes the request to surrender its weapons, but will comply with the law, he said. |
| Mr. Yarosh said lawyers with his group were drafting a bill for consideration in Parliament that was modeled on Swiss notions of firearms possession, in which an armed population is seen as a quick deterrent against a foreign invasion. | Mr. Yarosh said lawyers with his group were drafting a bill for consideration in Parliament that was modeled on Swiss notions of firearms possession, in which an armed population is seen as a quick deterrent against a foreign invasion. |
| “Allow people to keep weapons at home,” Mr. Yarosh said, describing the logic of gun ownership in the context of Ukraine. “Then, when the enemy walks down the streets of your country, you can shoot him right from your own window.” | “Allow people to keep weapons at home,” Mr. Yarosh said, describing the logic of gun ownership in the context of Ukraine. “Then, when the enemy walks down the streets of your country, you can shoot him right from your own window.” |
| Members of Right Sector have not just hunting rifles but also military weapons that were seized from an Interior Ministry arsenal in western Ukraine in the final days of the uprising. | Members of Right Sector have not just hunting rifles but also military weapons that were seized from an Interior Ministry arsenal in western Ukraine in the final days of the uprising. |
| The hunting weapons are legal, if the owner has a permit. In Ukraine, people 21 and older may apply for a license to own a shotgun for hunting, and those 25 and older may apply for a permit to own a rifle. | The hunting weapons are legal, if the owner has a permit. In Ukraine, people 21 and older may apply for a license to own a shotgun for hunting, and those 25 and older may apply for a permit to own a rifle. |
| Pistols that fire nonlethal plastic or rubber bullets are also legal for citizens who can demonstrate a risk of assault because of their profession, which in Ukraine can include law enforcement officers for off-duty use, civil servants and journalists. | |
| The self-defense units have been reluctant to describe in detail the seized military weapons, which were from an arsenal outside the city of Lviv. Mr. Yarosh said Right Sector helped move the weapons to the capital in late February. Today, he said of his supporters, “in part they handed in these weapons, in part they keep them.” | |
| The military weapons reached the capital too late to play a role in the street fighting, protest leaders have said. | The military weapons reached the capital too late to play a role in the street fighting, protest leaders have said. |
| Most of the opposition street fighters who clashed with the police in Kiev in February carried only baseball bats and other improvised bludgeons, like lead pipes or table legs with nails driven through the ends. But analysts said it was the size of the crowds, rather than weaponry, that was the pivotal political factor. | Most of the opposition street fighters who clashed with the police in Kiev in February carried only baseball bats and other improvised bludgeons, like lead pipes or table legs with nails driven through the ends. But analysts said it was the size of the crowds, rather than weaponry, that was the pivotal political factor. |
| The interim government is now seeking to integrate the loosely organized militias into a newly formed national guard, though several hard-line groups, including Right Sector, have declined to join. | The interim government is now seeking to integrate the loosely organized militias into a newly formed national guard, though several hard-line groups, including Right Sector, have declined to join. |
| At the group’s headquarters in the Dnipro Hotel here, where men in jeans and military fatigues guarded the hallways this week, some of them with black-and-red bandannas over their faces, a man with a submachine gun stood guard outside the office of Mr. Yarosh. | At the group’s headquarters in the Dnipro Hotel here, where men in jeans and military fatigues guarded the hallways this week, some of them with black-and-red bandannas over their faces, a man with a submachine gun stood guard outside the office of Mr. Yarosh. |
| “We are ready to become partisans, and are preparing for this role,” Mr. Yarosh said. “Patriots with guns are the best protection.” | “We are ready to become partisans, and are preparing for this role,” Mr. Yarosh said. “Patriots with guns are the best protection.” |
| Hryhoriy Nemyria, a Parliament member and a former deputy prime minister who supports the government’s position on collecting firearms, said in an interview that far from discouraging a Russian intervention, the widespread distribution of illegal firearms could just as easily be used to justify one. | Hryhoriy Nemyria, a Parliament member and a former deputy prime minister who supports the government’s position on collecting firearms, said in an interview that far from discouraging a Russian intervention, the widespread distribution of illegal firearms could just as easily be used to justify one. |
| “Arms out of control of the state are of course a factor in instability, and should not be allowed to drift by inertia,” he said. “In the context of Russian agents crossing the border, the guns are a catalyst for disorder. Arming the population is not our policy.” | “Arms out of control of the state are of course a factor in instability, and should not be allowed to drift by inertia,” he said. “In the context of Russian agents crossing the border, the guns are a catalyst for disorder. Arming the population is not our policy.” |