Currently, category D weapons, which also include gas devices, can be possessed by adult persons without permits, who have presented identity documents to the dealer selling them. For sports, category D pneumatic weapons and their ammunition can be purchased and owned by natural persons from the age of 16 without permits.
Representatives of the opposition Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” faction propose to include in the law that category D gas devices can be owned by permanent residents of Lithuania who are at least 14 years old without permits, if these devices were handed over to them by their parents, adoptive parents or guardians. Minors would not be able to buy such devices themselves.
“A gas canister is one of the simplest and most popular means of self-defense, with which a person attacked on the street can defend himself from a criminal,” says MP Vytautas Bakas, the initiator of the amendment.
According to him, the canister aimed at the attacker will not cause much damage, and the goal of repelling him will be achieved.
According to V. Bak, although only adults are allowed to have gas canisters, parents still buy such devices for their children to protect themselves, even though such actions are subject to administrative and, in some cases, criminal liability.