The Lithuanian Weaponry Fund has sold the M14 semi-automatic rifles, supplied to the Lithuanian Army by the US in 1999, although the sides signed an agreement to ban sale of the weapons.
The M14 semi-automatic rifle (Photo: didzgalvis.lt)
The M14 semi-automatic rifles, supplied to the Lithuanian Army by the US in 1999, were sold to individual persons, although the countries signed an agreement to ban sale of the weapons, the Delfi informational website reported on Tuesday.
The agreement between the Lithuanian government and the US, according to which Lithuania committed not to transfer the delivered rifles to third parties, was signed in 2002, three years after the supply.
“The US government provided a support to Lithuania in the form of the preowned M14 semi-automatic rifles, which were sold to third parties in 2014, although Lithuania and the US signed an agreement to ban sale of the weapons,” the article reads.
According to Delfi, the rifles were on free sale, any private person, who has a license for purchase of weapons, might buy them. According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Weaponry Fund of the Republic of Lithuania was selling this type of weapons at too low a price – €347.
“It is actually a low price, as in any other country a collector is ready to pay €25,000 for such a rifle,” businessman Darius Cekanauskas, who bought one exemplar from the Weaponry Fund, said.
In its turn, the Weaponry Fund demands buyers to return the purchased weapons, and has declared its readiness to pay €347 for the returned rifles.
According to the website, acting director of the Lithuanian Weaponry Fund, Jonas Salavejus said that eight M14 rifles were sold for the year. Reportedly, five of them have already been returned. Regarding the remaining three rifles, the Weaponry Fund intends to apply to the court, demanding forced return of the weapons.
“Transmitting the weapons to the Weaponry Fund, nobody warned that there is the agreement between Lithuania and the US, according to which these weapons cannot be transferred to third parties. In addition, nobody pointed out that the transferred weapons cannot be sold,” Salavejus told Delfi.
??? Who writes these articles… seriously, how some 8 M14 sold privately in some corner of the World in anyhow relevant.. in US thousands of much more modern and deadly guns sold every day.
Besides Delfi is total bullshit, one of the worst, most biased, libelous, russophobic, islamophobic, pro-establishment hardline far-right “news portals” if we can even call it like that anyway. these “journalists” and “analysts” writing crap in that site doesn’t deserve such names. It’s as legitimate of a news site as al-Jazeera, al-Amaq, CNN, NBC and others.. ffs its worse than even those tbh its just a machine of well-funded systematic slander.
25.000$? seriously??? not even for personal rifle of George Washington, let alone a common infantryman’s rifle from Vietnam!
Good for them, I hope the Lithuanian example is one others would choose to follow. Its nothing short of exceptional news when a modern state chooses to offload its surplus modern weaponry to its citizens, its the ultimate act of confidence in ones people.