The number of civilian gun owners in Russia reduces every year, said experts at a news conference on the 17th Arms & Hunting 2020 International Exhibition (this year, the expo will change its venue for the first time and will take place at VDNKh).
According to Oleg Chikirev, vice-president for foreign economic activity at the Union of Russian gunmakers, the number of owners of civilian guns is dropping in the country.
“There are currently some 4 mio people; in the past 8-9 years, their number has dropped by 25% and we believe there will be no growth in the near future,” Chikirev said.
This trend leads to easing the load on gun and ammunition manufacturers, as well to reducing the number of stores that sell civilian guns.
In all, there are 4 mio people in Russia who own over 6 mio civilian guns, said Police Col. Alexander Samoilov, deputy head of the Licensing Center at the National Guard’s Main Directorate for Moscow, and head of the gun control department (the National Guard regulates gun control).
“Every year, dozens and hundreds of people receive licenses to purchase and keep smoothbore and hunting rifles, as well as shotguns, self-defense weapons, and sporting guns. Somebody purchases their first gun, and some already have many of them,” Alexander Samoilov said.
At the same time, Russians are clearly interested in the matter: last year, the Arms % Hunting expo brought together over 25K people; this year, the number of participants will increase by 30% and the number of visitors will reach 50K people.