Albanian Gun Rights?

[The Man]

Were you allowed to own guns in Socialist Albania under Hoxha? I recognize the strong amount of Pillboxes, so I wanted to know if guns were allowed for civilian use.

[Cleansing Conspiratorial Revolutionary Flame]

1.) I believe that there was no actual private ownership of firearms to civilians in Albania.
2.) However, at the same time much like in other similar states it was mandatory for Civilians to receive military training in which weapons training had occurred as well in order to protect Albania from potential invasion from either the USSR, NATO or the United States.

[Gustav HK]

I read somewhere that every household was expected to have a cache of weapons.

And I believe it was once in a month (or once in a year) all able-bodied men and women should undergo millitary training (which started already in the later classes of school).

[Spartacus.]

I recognize the strong amount of Pillboxes, so I wanted to know if guns were allowed for civilian use.


Gee, it seems that the only thing people know about the socialist Albania and their acomplishments is the fact that Hoxha has built half a million bunkers and that was his only contribution to the world Communist movement. Perhaps we could change the name of Hoxhaist ideological tendency into some more appropriate form (in line with his passion for building bunkers). Something like: Marxism-Leninism-Pillboxism... :rolleyes:

[The Man]

Gee, it seems that the only thing people know about the socialist Albania and their acomplishments is the fact that Hoxha has built half a million bunkers and that was his only contribution to the world Communist movement. Perhaps we could change the name of Hoxhaist ideological tendency into some more appropriate form (in line with his passion for building bunkers). Something like: Marxism-Leninism-Pillboxism... :rolleyes:

What? When did I ever say that was Hoxha's only accomplishment? I was simply saying that, due to the large amount of bunkers, that it could be used for Civilian Militia use, therefore poses my question.

[Ismail]

Historically Albania was a gun-friendly country. Not in the National Rifle Association sense, but in the "glorious tribe with its helmsman defends the family from the blood feud which have engulfed his relatives" sense.

Hoxha in 1968: "All our people are armed in the full meaning of the word. Every Albanian city-dweller or villager, has his weapon at home. Our army itself, the army of a soldier people, is ready at any moment to strike at any enemy or coalition of enemies." (Selected Works Vol. IV, p. 501.)

Jan Myrdal, a sympathetic political "pilgrim," recounted the following in Albania Defiant (p. 17):

The entire Albanian people are armed, but the navy, the air force, and armored units are—naturally enough—not particularly strong. In May 1961 the Soviet leaders tried to undermine Albania's defenses by giving their officers orders to steal Albania's eight submarines. Naturally, this theft irritated the Albanians. But it hardly undermined Albania's defenses, which are based on the ability of its totally armed population to defend its mountains.And page 146:

Chinese support is important, but crucial to Albania's defense is that the entire Albanian people are armed, have weapons. There are weapons in every village. Ten minutes after the alarm sounds, the entire population of a village must be ready for combat. There has never been any shortage of weapons in Albania, but never have the people been as armed as they are today.The country stressed self-defense a lot more than most other states.

I'm sure, regardless, that there were some restrictions on gun ownership, but from what I've read guns more or less flowed freely, which could be seen for instance when the authority of the state corroded in the 1990-1992 period and when, as a result, blood feuds rose right back up again.