How are the gun laws in your nation? Flexible or restrictive?
Says the article 184 of Constitution of the Empire that "in the territories of our peoples realm every person has the right to self-defense trough force against those who, trough force, try to agress his, or someones else's, rights to life, integrity and property", and says the article 185 that "to guarantee and protect the right to property and self-defense against unjust agression from another, as well for national protection and defense, keeping and bearing arms is a right of all capable, loyal and law-abding citizens, under the terms of the law". The Constitution also says that, in its article 185, I: "no authority shall ever be able to conduct the general disarmament of the people". And 185, II, "the national, provincial and local laws about the ownership and carry of firearms shall not be a way to restrict this right, but to set reasonable requirements and regulations for public security and general stability of the society". However, the Constitution also states that, in its article 91, that "the national authorities shall regulate the production, export, import, and legal use of war and defense material in order to keep order and internal peace, order and tranquility, observed the other dispositions and rights observed in this Constitution, under the inspection of the government branches and under the current laws", thus giving to the authorities the duty to regulate, but without destroying, this right.
Following the said in the Imperial Constitution, gun licenses are given in a shall issue basis after a process to atest that the citizen that wants to own a gun is capable, law-abding and not a threat to others. The Federal Firearms and Ammunition Ownership Complementary Law is the one which currently regulate the right to keep arms in the Empire. Which states that in order to legally acquire firearms, a citizen or resident foreign person must:
- 1) Be over 16 years old, with a licit source of income, have at least one fixed address, and ask for a background check at a police station, court, or other government institution, signing a declaration allowing the autorities to search some of his antecedents and records.
- 2) Obtain a certificate from an accredited psychologist, or other competent doctor, certifying that he or she is mentally healthy enough to not pose a threat to others and himself or herself.
- 3) Go to a firing range, or await for a scheduled time at the local police station, and pass trough a four-hour instruction on safe and correct handling, correct conduct while carrying a firearm, how to safely store and transport firearms, correct conduct in the defensive use of firearms, and as well basic training for riskful situations, getting a certificate on safety with firearms.
- 4) Go to a police station, National Guard barracks, or Arms and Explosives Control Agency instalation, with the following documents: doctor certificate, proof of licit source of income, a proof of address, background check document, ID card, and certificate on safety with firearms. If the applicant haves a serious criminal record, history of drug abuse, violent and criminal behavior, and/or certain mental health issues that indicates that he may be a threat to others or himself, the license may be denied. The applicant can appeal to court if he/she feels that his/her license has been unfairly denied. Then, read and sign a declaration that he wants a gun license, and that he will take the respective cares and responsability for this, legally assuming possible liability in case of misconducts. Then, he will get the firearm ownership license card.
- 5) After that, the applicant must declare how much and which kinds of firearms he wants to acquire at that moment. Licensed civilians can own: semi-automatic and manually operated (bolt-action, pump-action, lever-action, etc.) firearms. The maximum limit of firearms per person is of 12, 8 long firearms and 4 handguns. Extra: licensed civilians can ask to own automatic firearms with an extra special license that must be requested to the Arms and Explosives Control Agency after getting the regular license card with a specific legitimate reason, which can be preservation of a historical firearm, certain gun sports and competitions, working as a security guard in a place with sensible technologies or high values, or the mere collecting of firearms (most common reason declared for this, demands joining an accredited organization of firearm enthusiasts), with then the applicant passing trough a scheduled interview with a series of extra documents being requested before him or her receive or not this special license. Are forbidden for civilians: sawed-off shotguns, flamethrowers and any sort of incendiary device or ammunition, any sort of weapon designed to launch explosives and explosive ammunitions, and as well any rifled firearm with a caliber larger than 12 millimeters (.50).
- 6) Then, the applicant must acquire a safe, appropriate to the type and quantity of firearms declared, and let the police or other competent professionals inspect it (if it is a portable safe the inspection can be done in the police station with the applicant taking the safe with him, otherwise the applicant must schedule an inspection at his address). The applicants with the special license for automatic firearms will also need to acquire one or more reinforced armored suitcases for transporting each automatic weapon to be acquired, and as well to acquire a separate, specifically more armored and reinforced according to certain extra regulations, safe to keep such weapons. After the inspection, the applicant will receive the acquisition document listing the firearms previously declared. This step and the previous one will need to be repeated in case the person in question decides to acquire more and/or larger firearms in the future until he hits the previously mentioned limit.
- 7) With the license card and a copy of the acquisition document, now the applicant can legally buy firearms.
Other dispositions present in the law are that, after the acquisitions:
- When not being carried or used by their respective owner, firearms must always be kept in their respective safes at their owners adress.
- If he moves from an adress to other, even if the first one still being his property, it is forbidden to abandon the firearms even if they still in their safes. This do not apply to people who for professional or other valid reasons circulate a lot trough their adresses trough the nations territory.
- There is serious legal accountability in cases where misconducts and non-compliances with the law facilitate the execution of crime (in a remarcable case, considered a precedent by the Imperial Central Court, a parent was sentenced to years in jail after one of his teenager sons used one of his firearms to commit a mass shooting in a school, because the teen was only able to get the object due to the habit of the parent to left it throwed trough their residence).
- In cases like the ones metioned above, the license may be revoked and the firearms confiscated after the criminal conviction.
- There is legal accountability in cases where misconducts and non-compliances with the law lead to accidents, but the consequences shall vary depending on the degree of negligence and its concrete consequences. If the non-compliance is total and the negligence is severe the license may be revoked and the firearms confiscated after a criminal conviction.
- Also, usually, other possibility to legally acquired firearms to be confiscated from their respective owner is after criminal conviction for violent crimes involving the firearms.
- In cases where it is attested that the citizen in question lost his mental health in a way he is a risk to others, after a judicial process, the firearms may be retained by the police authority, but they will still be property of the owner and may be returned after the person in question regains his health. If he wants, he can sell his weapons or donate them to someone else.
- Are generally considered to be misconducts with firearms: pulling out a gun in a public space unnecessarily and with no justification, firing a gun in a public area with no need, pointing a gun at someone without reason or justification, etc., these conducts will lead to certain sanctions (such as not being able to carry firearms anymore and only being authorized to keep them at home, etc.), fines, etc., plus the other legally instituted penalties.
- Shooting clubs, gun stores, security companies, and other private legal entities whose services involve around the trade or use of firearms and ammunition can have an unlimited number of firearms inside their respective commercial establishments. But, they must have all their firearms locked in safes, or padlocked when on display, when not in use, and they must pass trough regular inspections from the police forces. These inspections are carried by the Arms and Explosives Control Agency together the police forces if needed.
- Security companies can only employ people with firearms licenses in their ranks, and they can only have the kinds of firearms mentioned before as allowed for civilians in their depots, also following the regulations related to keeping the firearms in safes. Also, security companies can only have one long firearm and one short firearm per employee under their ownership at their depots, also following the previously mentioned requisite for the ownership of automatic firearms.
- Firearm manufacturers must follow specific regulations and are obliged to follow many security and control measures to prevent the diversion of weapons, as well pass trough regular routine inspections from the authorities, as well to prioritize part of their production to the law enforcement and defense market when necessary. There is a constant inspection and control of the sector by the Arms and Explosives Control Agency together the police forces if needed to prevent illegal arms trafficking and smuggling.
- The law differentiates "irregular" possession of weapons from "illegal" possession of weapons: a person who has a firearm, as long as it is numbered and of legal origin, without a license, but has not used it to commit any serious crime, is considered to have commited only the misdemeanor of "irregular gun ownership". But anyone who owns a firearm with a shaved number, known to be stolen, forbidden for civilian ownership, illegally trafficked into the country, in turn, incurs in illegal gun ownership, a serious crime, and depending on the quantity and type of firearms, may even be sentenced to life sentence or capital punishment if it is done to supply criminal or insurgent groups, being this a criminal crime.
- Illegal arms trafficking into the country and the illegal production of firearms is a serious crime, and may even incur in a life sentence or capital punishment if it is done to supply criminal or insurgent groups, being this a federal crime.
- The law also creates the exception that people who live in places far from police organizations are not committing any misdemeanor by possessing irregular firearms. On the mainland (the larger island), in practice this no longer applies with the exception of a few very isolated places in the central Aestrehay mountains, however on smaller islands it is often applied to their few residents.
Now, leaving the scope of this law:
- Laws regulating the right to bear arms are local, with some provinces limiting the kind of firearms that can be carried in most public spaces, and cities and municipalities also being able to issue their laws on this. However, the Imperial Central Court ruled that such regulations and laws cannot forbid the right to bear arms entirely, creating the idea of a constitutionally protected right to concealed carry.
- Another federal law grants certain categories such as police and military personnel, judges, prosecutors, politicians, federal agents, etc., the right to bear handguns despite any provincial and local laws.
- Due to commerce and protectionist policies, the import of firearms is difficult and very expensive, thus being rare. Although, there's a strong and very large firearms industry in the country.
- People without gun licenses, including physically capable minors, can use firearms for sport or recreation with instructors at ranges, competitions and events.
- In almost all provinces airsofts (as long they have the orange tip) and any kind of blade are not regulated, nor illegal, as well bows and arrows, crossbows, and air guns.
Also necessary to say, the country haves a strong gun culture, with recreational and sport shooting being very common in the country and most people liking guns in a way or another. Both for sports and recreational purposes, as well for others, with the idea that someones must "be able to defend himself" and haves the right to do so if necessary being common sense and, as showed before, a constitutional right. There are also many organizations dedicated themselves to the cause of supporting gun rights, with them acting both in politics, pressing and negotiating with politicians against new gun control legislations and fighting for the right to bear in the provincial governments, and within the society itself, refuting anti-gun narratives, etc. There's also many anti-gun organizations, but they usually don't gain popularity or much influence among the politics. However, they sometimes are able to political victories trough negotiations in the parliament when they got support from other political groups and interests. The current Federal Firearms and Ammunition Ownership Complementary Law is somewhat disliked by both sides, with some considering it to liberal and many considering it too restrictive and invasive, as well due to the fact that it was pratically imposed by the security and defense establishment and only later rectified by the Legislative back in the "Years of Lead" of the previous regime, marked by criminal violence and terrorism. However, any support to change the law was all but deflated as people turned to look at the situation in other nations, with countries that are too liberal with their firearm laws suffering from constant domestic terrorism and countries with total civilian disarmament or too rigid gun control leaving their peoples totally defenseless against criminals and pratically ending the right to defense. The law then passed on to be considered an healthy balance, preserving the right of self-defense and mitigating negative externalities. The military and security establishment also press against any legislative change, considering that more liberality than that would open the door to chaos but that less than that would leave civilians (and the nation itself) too vulnerable. The public then accommodated, and politicians prefer not to touch what works. The amount of jurisprudence and directives based on this law is also enormous, and major changes would be very costly. However, the law did received changes over time, allowing for more kinds of firearms to be owned by civilians but putting in place some of the requirements previously mentioned. Current gun ownership rates are of more than 50 firearms by each 100 people, even in the most modest statistics. Gun sports are very common, and the latter is considered part of the national culture with its own characteristics.
