Gun laws in the Czech Republic in many respects differ from those in other European Union member states (see Gun laws in the European Union). The "right to acquire, keep and bear firearms" is explicitly recognized in the first Article of the Firearms Act. At the constitutional level, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms includes the "right to defend one's own life or life of another person also with arms under conditions stipulated by law".
A gun shop in Prague showing a typical selection of locally most popular types of firearms
A replica of 1420s Hussite war wagon with embrasures for firearms
Petr Pavel is a Czech politician and retired army general, currently serving as the president of the Czech Republic since March 2023. Prior to this, he held the position of Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2015 to 2018, and served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces between 2012 and 2015.
Pavel (4th from left) at the International Special Training Centre in Pfullendorf, Germany in February 2016
Haakon Bruun-Hanssen (left), Norway's Chief of Defence, in a discussion with Pavel in 2016
Pavel during a rally in support of Ukraine in Brno, March 2022