Guess what? On Sunday in Russia, which has strict gun control laws, a gunman opened fire on a Russian orthodox Chruch in Kizlyar in the republic of Dagestan, killing at least five people and wounding four others.
According to authorities, the gunman was a local resident who used his hunting rifle to target people leaving the Sunday morning service. After the shooting, Islamic State group claimed responsibility, stating on an Islamic State-affiliated website that for a deadly attack on churchgoers in Russia’s predominantly Muslim Dagestan region that a Muslim fighter attacked “a Christian temple.”
Russia’s gun control laws are quite strict, as the Law Library of Congress explains:
… circulation of firearms to Russian citizens older than eighteen years of age with a registered permanent residence, and for the purposes of self-defense, hunting, and sports activities only. The acquisition of guns is based on licenses provided for a five-year period by local police departments at one’s place of residence after a thorough background check, including a review of the petitioner’s ability to store guns safely and an evaluation of his/her medical records. Mentally ill people and those who have been treated for substance abuse are not allowed to possess firearms.
Further:
Individuals are not allowed to carry guns acquired for self-defense; a license only serves as a carrying permit for hunting and sport firearms when these guns need to be transported. Russian citizens may not own guns that shoot in bursts or have magazines with more than a ten-cartridge capacity.
Notably, weapons used in crimes are not gained legally: “Most of the weapons used in crimes committed in Russia turned out to be unregistered or were acquired by a person who used it for criminal purposes. While Russia maintains relatively restrictive gun control legislation and strict procedures regulating the purchase and storage of firearms by private individuals, there is a huge black market for weapons, and most weapons used by criminals are stolen military or police guns, guns sold by law enforcement personnel who seized illegal weapons from criminals and did not register the confiscation of those firearms, or firearms made from modified nonlethal guns.”
Russia’s Federal Law on Weapons states that only Russian citizens can own civilian weapons in Russia. Foreign nationals are not allowed to own guns. Additionally, “Special restrictions are imposed on the circulation of civilian weapons. Prohibited firearms are those with a cartridge capacity of more than ten bullets, those that can fire in bursts, those with a barrel length of less than 500 millimeters or an entire length under 800 millimeters, and those that can be shortened to a length of under 800 millimeters without losing their shooting capacity.”
Russia is ninth in the world when measured by the number of registered guns in the possession of individuals.