Maryan Zablotsky, a Ukrainian lawmaker in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, is a well-known figure in Ukraine’s free market-oriented community. Kyiv Post spoke to Zablotsky, a strong supporter of closer US-Ukrainian relations about his adventurous new project.
Kyiv Post: You have an uncommon, but very worthwhile, vision: Arming Ukrainian civilians with firearms seized by the police in the United States. What is the idea in short?
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Maryan Zablotsky: Less than 2 percent of adult Ukrainians own a firearm – the lowest in Europe. Meanwhile, gun ownership level of US is such that even without an army there is no risk of invasion ever. It makes sense that a lot of Americans want to donate a firearm. Also, tens of thousands of firearms are destroyed in US by police. So, I started project called Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty in order to create legal mechanisms and logistics for willing Americans or police to donate firearms. I do believe that if every Ukrainian own a firearm, we will never get invaded again.
KP: So far, what successes have you had?
MZ: The cities of Miami and Phoenix voted to donate seized forearms to Ukraine. In total we brought roughly 650 firearms from both cities. Saved taxpayer money on their destruction. And they have been put to good use. Also, I found donors who paid for new AR-15 rifles. We gave 35 of those away to civilians in Irpin.
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KP: But not everyone is a fan: What setbacks have you had to overcome to achieve this?
MZ: Local guns stores were not fans of free firearms, as they make huge profits in gun sales. The AR-15 we gave away we purchased at $700 in US and here the retail price was $1,900 for an identical model. Police also think that any gun not possessed by them is a threat to them. Also, the Russian lobby was hard at works in the US. But all in all, we have a cool concept and the program is working. Now we are looking at ways to expand it.
KP: What are the next steps for this initiative?
MZ: I want to partner with some of the 35,000 gun stores in US to sell merchandise and put out donation boxes. Given that every year Americans buy 20 million new firearms, some may want to help buy a few for Ukrainians.
KP: You are a Member of Parliament from Servant of the People (the party of President Zelensky): How did you wind up becoming a politician?
I shifted from being an economic research analyst to making several NGOs in 2012. One of them was made with the help of Americans for Tax Reform. In my work I focused on action and concrete results that donors appreciated. Every year we worked two to four pieces of legislation that got adopted. I was mostly focused on economic freedom and managed to eliminate 29 different permit documents. We do a lot in land reform and Tax Code modification. We worked in clear strategy – very few roundtables and conferences – but a lot of making of legislation. We saw that once a member of parliament has a draft law ready, he will act on it. Much more efficient than raising awareness about the problem and expecting members of parliament to write their own legislation.
KP: What is happening now in Parliament?
We work under higher security measures. But that cuts down through procedures and makes work more efficient. Every other week we have high-ranking guests who travel to show their support.
MZ: So, what will come next in arming Ukrainians with American weapons?
I hope that in the long run I can create a long-lasting campaign for Americans to donate firearms to Ukrainians. I do believe that an AR-15 in every household is the best security guarantee for Ukraine.
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