Forced Disarmament

On 17 August 1884 the "Binding Decree on the Sale, Storage and Carrying of Combat Firearms in the Caucasus Krai" was approved: combat rifles - only under police permits, and the sale and purchase of army-pattern weapons were banned^[1]. On 1 July 1899 the decree was tightened: previous permits were annulled, annual renewal was required, and weapons without a permit were confiscated and sold for the benefit of the treasury^[1]. In 1892, by order of the head of the Terek oblast, all weapons with which highlanders appeared in Russian settlements were confiscated, including weapons brought for sale; from 1893 the authorities were allowed to search homes for weapons^[1]. Historians Ya. Z. Akhmadov and E. Kh. Khasmagomadov record the contrast: highlander militiamen in imperial service carried weapons at all times, "unlike ordinary highlanders, who could not appear armed outside their villages"^[2].