Kyrgyz Speaker Wants Deputies To Have Right To Carry Guns

Kyrgyz parliamentarian Akmatbek Keldibekov,who wants deputies to be able to carry guns for their own protection.

BISHKEK -- The speaker of Kyrgyzstan's parliament today proposed draft legislation that would allow deputies to carry guns at his discretion, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Akmatbek Keldibekov's proposal comes two weeks after authorities revealed that security officers confiscated 11 guns -- including an AK-47 assault rifle -- at the parliament following a scuffle between two deputies.

Egemberdi Ermatov, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee For Official Workers' Ethics, told RFE/RL that Keldibekov proposed amending the law on the status of members of parliament to enable a deputy whose life is under threat to apply to the speaker for a permit to carry a gun.

The speaker would grant such permission if he considered the request valid.

Read more in Kyrgyz here