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Airport security guards to be armed with firearms

The amendments to the current transportation security bill, which was approved in February 2014, may be made this year

MOSCOW, March 05. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian airports’ security guards will soon be wearing firearms, the head of Russia’s transportation watchdog, Vladimir Chertok, told the media at the national exhibition of airport infrastructure and civil aviation.

In his opinion, the amendments to the current transportation security bill, which was approved in February 2014, will be made this year. The bill allows the officers of transportation security departments to purchase, keep and wear impact munitions and firearms in order to protect transport infrastructure and passenger M1 and M2 category vehicles from unlawful interference.

“We do not know yet when amendments will be made. Nevertheless, there is a deadline, by which a governmental decree on weapon requirements should be issued; it will contain all the information, regarding the types and the quantity of firearms, who they should be handed to and where they should be kept”, the official said.

Chertok said that Russia’s Transportation Ministry should prepare all the necessary documents by the end of March and then all the articles should be agreed upon within 4-6 months.