National Guard to sell off old guns to collectors

THE NATIONAL Guard is putting its old weapons up for sale, but strictly for purposes of collection.

The guns for sale are Lee-Enfield rifles No4 (Martinis), Bren machineguns and Sten automatics. The total number of weapons is 9,000, of which the overwhelming majority are Lee-Enfield Number 4s. There are also around 90 Brens and 1,000 Stens.

Officers of the National Guard will be given priority of purchase. If demand is greater than the supply, there will be a draw among those who have expressed interest. If there is lower demand than supply, then individuals will be given the opportunity to apply for the purchase of weapons for private collections.

All weapons that will be sold will be disarmed in a way that they cannot under any circumstances be used. The bolts and firing pin have been removed, while the barrel has been glued with metal.

The National Guard will keep some of the weapons for museum exhibition but also to give as gifts to various foreign dignitaries visiting Cyprus. Some will also go to former EOKA fighters and retired officers, while a number will be donated to the EOKA Struggle Museum.

A “set” of the three guns will cost around €1,000. The most expensive of the three will be the Sten, estimated at around €400. Officers have apparently expressed an amount of interest and it is highly likely that they will not be able to buy more than one weapon, in order to meet demand.

The weapons will be given for the purpose of collection, and they have to be declared to the police, which will issues licences and register the details of each weapon.

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