Declaring found or received weapons is very simple – the National Police

“Citizens are able to declare all categories of small arms that they have found or received from the Defense Forces for the protection of the country. We have simplified the procedure for declaring weapons as much as possible. First of all, you need to call 102 or contact the nearest territorial police unit or your district police officer. In each territorial unit of the police, groups have been created that deal directly with the declaration of weapons and enter them into our databases. A citizen must provide an identity document, an identification code, a photo card, an insurance policy and a weapon for declaration. The policemen will instruct you on how to transport weapons by phone, and will set the time of arrival at the territorial police unit. The declaration time will take up to an hour. We check the databases to ensure that the weapon is not wanted and that it is not a criminal weapon and was not an instrument of crime. We issue an appropriate declaration slip, and the person can return with a weapon,” Facevych said.

At the same time, he reminded that in case of refusal to declare weapons, the penalty is up to 7 years of imprisonment.

Also, the declared weapon is not the property of a citizen and can become such only after the war, when it is converted into a hunting weapon.

Read also: This year, the police opened 4,700 cases of illegal handling of weapons “After the end of martial law, a person who declared a weapon can legally transform it into a hunting weapon, submit documents to the police and acquire ownership of this weapon. And it will be his personal weapon. And when it is declared, it is not a citizen’s personal weapon,” Facevych noted.

As Ukrinform reported, in Ukraine, civilians were allowed to use during the war the weapons they found and registered.

In August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on improving the procedure for obtaining, declaring and handling firearms.