Over 2,000 guns destroyed through melting in Moldova

Chisinau, 28 October /MOLDPRES/ - More than 2,000 guns, taken out of the civil circulation, have been destroyed through melting. It is about guns owned illegally, confiscated or voluntarily delivered to law-enforcers in the last three years.   

The melting procedure was started in Chisinau today and lasts about 4-5 hours. After this time interval, the guns are turned into metal, which is can no longer be used. The oldest guns melted today date back from 1952-1953.  

The acting head of the General Police Inspectorate, Gheorghe Balan, has said that, among the guns due to be melted, there were machine pistols, rifles, smooth-bore guns, guns with rifled tube, pistols and revolvers with rifled tube, pneumatic guns, improvised pistols.  

The project was carried out with the financial support and monitoring assistance of the South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC) and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) Moldova.  

UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova Dima Al-Khatib said that the reduction of the number of impracticable guns contributed to the creation of a safer environment for all citizens of Moldova. The official noted that UNDP would continue backing operations of this kind, thus ensuring a more efficient control of guns, cutting their surplus and creating a safer society.

The last guns’ melting procedure took place in late 2016. Starting from 2005 so far, six exercises of this kind have been carried out, with more than 20,000 guns melted. Since early 2019, the police subdivisions have recorded 305 deteriorated guns, with unauthorized changes in constructions or illegally owned.