Georgia: South Ossetians Cling to Arms

In late summer, the government asked residents to voluntarily give up their weapons to police, while opening numerous cases against citizens accused of illegal arms possession. Authorities also said they would soon implement a program under which participating citizens would receive a payment of up to $400 in return for handing over their weapons. In the weeks since the official appeal to hand over arms, police have received or taken 100 machine guns and 110 pounds of explosives.

There are plenty of citizens who aren't interested in taking up any government offers of cash for guns. These holdouts come from a wide variety of backgrounds: they include family men with basement arsenals, a journalism professor ready to mobilize his sons, and a painter who hides his Kalashnikov from the grandmother he cares for.

All these gun owners are united by a common sentiment: they do not completely trust Russian troops to defend their interests, so they must retain the ability to fight their own potential battles.