Overview

• The Czech Republic's lower house of Parliament has approved an amendment to tighten the country's gun laws, following the nation's worst mass shooting in December 2023.
• The proposed amendment, which was already under consideration before the shooting, includes provisions for a revamped online register of guns and their owners, and requires businesses to report suspicious purchases of guns and ammunition.
• The amendment also allows authorities to seize weapons as a precaution, for example if their owners make threats on social media, a power they currently do not have.
• Despite these changes, the amendment does not introduce mandatory psychological tests to obtain a gun license, a common requirement in other countries.
• The amendment still needs to pass through the Senate and be signed by the President to become law, and will not come into force until 2026.