Gun politics in Italy
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Contents |
Gun licenses
To obtain a gun licence applicants must be 18 or older, prove they can handle and use a firearm safely (usually by obtaining a certificate from a shooting range after attending a practical shooting course), declare to have a clean criminal record (verification will be made by the Police authorities) and must not be mentally ill or be a known abuser of, or addicted to, alcohol or illegal drugs. Other grounds for refusal of a gun license include being a conscientious objector or living with persons who may gain access to the firearms and abuse them (e.g. living with family members who are mentally ill, alcoholic or drug addicts).[4][5][6]
National Firearms Catalogue
Italian laws prescribe that any rifled-barreled firearm imported or manufactured in Italy after 1976 must be identified by a progressive catalogue number, assigned by a commission composed of police and government officials and representatives from the Italian arms industries. The role of the commission is to decide if a rifled firearm should be classified either a war firearm (arma da guerra) or a common firearm (arma comune da sparo). The national firearms catalogue describes the characteristics of the weapon (barrel and overall length, number of rounds in the magazine and other technical specifications) that cannot legally be altered without resubmitting the weapon to the commission. Common firearms with certain features (sights, type of action) can be classified as sporting firearms (armi sportive'), which can be used for self defence in extreme circumstances (es. during a home invasion) but which can not be carried for said purpose.
Weapons possession
All private firearms must be registered with the local Police offices within 48 hours after purchase or transfer, although this time limit can be extended for up to one week if notification is made with electronic or informatic means (es. fax, e-mail) that can certify reception and understanding of the message.
Citizens are allowed to own:
- up to three common firearms (usually handguns, but all firearms not using hunting calibers fall into this category, such as 10-gauge shotguns)
- up to six weapons that have been specifically engineered and/or manufactured for shooting sports
- an unlimited number of hunting weapons (both rifles and shotguns)
- 8 antique or historical weapons (designed, but not produced, before 1891).
Trade and ownership of deactivated and replica firearms is not regulated by law and is unrestricted.
Firearm collector's license
A Firearm Collector's License allows the bearer to keep at home an unlimited number of weapons, but they must be kept in a safe room, usually cannot be used or moved and their ammunition cannot be bought.
Carry guns in public places
In Italy it is illegal to carry weapons in public places, but the law provides the following exceptions:
Hunting license
A hunting license, along with a special hunting permit issued by the region of residence, allows to carry hunting weapons only during the hunting season and only within game reserves. When transporting them outside game reserves, the shotguns must be kept unloaded and locked in their case.
Firearms allowed for hunt are:
- All smooth bore guns, with a gauge not bigger than 12, overall length more than 60 cm and a barrel length more than 30 cm.
- Rifled bore guns, firing a bullet with a diameter more than 5.6mm or a case longer than 40mm, overall length more than 60 cm and a barrel length more than 30 cm.
Shooting sports license
With a shooting sports license, citizens are allowed to transport (unloaded and stored in a proper case) firearms from their home to an authorized shooting range or to another safe place to practice shooting, which, in case of a private place, must be reasonably distant from roads and inhabited areas, and not accessible by unauthorized people.
Concealed carry license
A concealed carry license allows a citizen to carry a handgun for personal defense; this license is usually very hard to obtain than other firearm licenses, must be renewed yearly (while the other are valid for 6 years), and the applicant has to provide a valid reason to carry a concealed gun (e.g. a salesperson of valuable goods such as jewelry). A special carry license is released to private security personnel; this license differs from the standard carry licenses in that it has to be renewed every two years, and allows on-duty open carry (otherwise forbidden), and off-duty concealed carry.
Limitations
Italian gun laws pose restrictions to the kind of firearms and calibers available to civilians. Full-automatic/select-fire firearms (machineguns), grenade launchers, destructive devices and all other kinds of military weapons are forbidden; prohibited calibers include the 9mm Parabellum (with the exception of nine revolvers and one pump-action carbine, made by Smith&Wesson, Ruger and Taurus, which have been authorized for civilian ownership in said caliber, but on condition of using only bare lead ammunition without any kind of jacketing, even partial) and all military ammunition (such as 5.7x28mm, 4.6x30mm, .50-BMG and up), while standard military calibers such as 5.56x45mm NATO and 7.62x51mm NATO are available in civilian loads and with civilian denominations (such as .223 Remington, .308 Winchester). Semi-automatic firearms can be bought by licensees without additional restrictions.
Operational limits include a maximum capacity of 15 rounds for handguns (effective since 2004), a maximum capacity of 5 rounds (sometimes 10 rounds or even more according to some specific case) for non-smoothbore long arms (rifles and carbines), while no nominal capacity limit applies to shotguns. Restrictions on the ownership of ammunition include a maximum of 1500 shotgun shells and/or rifle/carbine cartridges, and a maximum of 200 rounds of pistol ammunition, which can be elevated to 1500 if the licensee owns a hunting firearm (carbine) in such calibers. These limitations can be overcome only by obtaining a special permit from the local prefect.
Police forces
National police officers are always allowed to carry their handguns without territorial or time restrictions, but are required to carry them concealed when they are off duty. Machine guns can only be carried while on duty.
Local police officers are generally allowed to carry their handguns (concealed when off duty), but only within their territorial limits.
Security guards can be allowed by the prefect to carry weapons when on duty and without territorial limits, upon request; usually this permission is granted to cash-in-transit security officers, as well as to private security personnel guarding banks, shopping malls and other facilities (in recent years, even some public offices and hospitals in Italy have contracted private security personnel for 24/7 protection).
See also
References
- ↑ The English words 'politics' and 'policy' are both translated by the single Italian word 'politica': discussion of this topic with an Italian speaker should recognize that for the Italian there is no automatic distinction between 'politics' and 'policy'.
- ↑ "Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City - Chapter 2:Completing the Count: Civilian Firearms". Small Arms Survey.
- ↑ "Guns per 100 residents" EduTube.org
- ↑ "Sintesi del diritto delle armi (A brief essay on gun law)" (in Italian). www.earmi.it.
- ↑ "Gun and Firearms Laws, Justice, Culture and Crime in Foreign Countries"
- ↑ Dave Kopel & Carlo Stagnaro. "Gianni, Get Your Gun"
