Question to those not in the USA, and who have lived outside the USA.

I’ve been thinking about something and want to check an assumption I have. I only hear directly from other people in the USA, and interract with the global community through memes. How are the gun regulations/laws different from yours in terms of strictness, and do you wish there was more or less where you live?

Not looking for a debate here, discuss cold drinks vs hot drinks instead. Appreciate either answer. ❤️

Edit: Thanks for the answers all. I’m super proud how productive eveyone kept this talk. I figured most of you had very different experiences than I. I’ll share my most recent experience. I don’t have a firearm, but have considered it after being trained enough. When sharing this with “normal” people around town, I had multiple people offer to sell or gift me a gun where the serial number was scratched off and non-traceable. I ofter heard, “oh man, yeah. You need a gun.” I have literally never needed one. The fact that people offer to give me one when I don’t have a liscence or training shows the mindset of the minority here and how much of a problem a few individuals can make to safety within the current system.

zxqwas,

Sweden: you can apply for a licence from the police for target shooting if you’re an active member of a club, or a hunter if you have passed a hunters exam (like drivers license basically). You’ll have your criminal record checked.

Either way the gun must be suitable for the purpose. Shotguns and hunting rifles are not very hard to get. If your criminal record is clean and you’ve got the hunters exam you’ll probably be granted a licence for up to 4 hunting rifles/shotguns with the only question being if you have a large enough gun safe. You’ll get to keep them forever unless you’re convicted of a crime. (There is a debate right now if doctors should tell the police if someone is unsuitable, the argument against is that people would not go to the doctor if they suspected they could lose their guns)

Hand guns are harder to get and the license needs to be renewed every few years and you’ve got to prove that you are actively hunting/target shooting.

Magazine size for semi automatic is limited. Length of rifles and shotguns are regulated as to not be easily concealable. All firearms must be stored in a heavy safe when not used. You’re not allowed to carry it around town.

As for my opinion as a hunter it’s not excessively burdensome to get your license. The time delay has been due to under staffing rather than the laws itself. I do take issue with the “suitable for purpose” as they can arbitrarily deny you a licence because it “looks” like a military rifle.

MrAlternateTape,

Netherlands here. You can get a permit for sport shooting or hunting. Guns for self defense are not allowed.

Any violence used to catch a burglary or somebody breaking in has to be a reasonable response. So if they have no weapon and you hit them with a baseball bat you are actually in trouble. This can be very frustrating but there is a point to it. Minimal violence is the name of the game here.

Even the police are trained to talk first and only resort to violence when absolutely necessary. Drawing a weapon as a cop means filling out paperwork and there will be a review to make sure it was the right move.

However, for sport shooting you have to join a shooting club and shoot competition. The first year you can only shoot with air guns.

If you get a gun for sport shooting, you have to have a safe for the weapon, grounded to the wall and the floor. It will be inspected and police can check on you at random times.

Ammo and weapon should be separated at all times, transport can only be done in cases.

You are not allowed to load the gun until you are basically ready to shoot. If you have to shoot five times, you are not allowed to load six shots. You can have a maximum of 5 guns. Assault rifles are not legal I think. There are no competitions with them, so you have no reason to buy them.

The rules are strict. We only had one big “recent” shooting and I think it is at least 10 years ago. I like it.

Of course criminals stil have guns, but for a random guy who lost his job and want to take revenge it is neigh impossible to just buy an AK47 and shoot all his colleagues. Quite a safe feeling actually.

harlatan,

Austria: relativly strict: you have to have a reason (hunting, self defense or sport). depending on the category of weapon a mental assessment could be necessary (not in case of hunting rifles only). automatic weapons, explosives and some other weapons are not legal to own privately. you have to securely store the weapon and need an extra permission for carrying - which is nigh unobtainable, even for active police. Transportation in a locked container and unloaded.

ExLisper,

Spain/Poland: you can get a gun for sport shooting but you absolutely not allowed to carry it loaded. You can only take it to and from the shooting range but you have to unload it. You can get a gun for selfe defence but there’s police review and psychology tests. If you get it it’s mandatory to store it in a safe at home, you can’t drink when you’re carrying it, you have to carry it hidden. There are no stand your grand laws. If you shoot someone you will have to prove it was in response to direct threat to your life. Super happy with those laws.

Ruscal,

Clarification regarding carrying weapon on sport license in Poland. You are allowed to transport it loaded, but the regulation says you should not expose it, not to bring attention to it. Currently sport license is the most common license in Poland because it is the simplest to make of them all (not meaning it’s easy per se).

Cryan24,

Guns are licensed strictly for hunting only and our kids come home from school without being shot.

spez,

Very strict. Even if you HAVE connections, most of the time you’re gonna get a pistol at best. It’s easier to hire security agencies with AK47s than to get even say a shotgun. Very happy with this.

hubobes, (edited )

Switzerland: Lot of guns here, but there are background checks and every gun is accounted for as you have to send a copy of the receipt to the government. There are also other laws surrounding the whole topic like how to properly store them, how to transport guns etc.

But there are a lot of guns and basically no incidents. However the overall respect toward guns as well as strong social security probably go a long way.

Side note: I only ever once shot a gun. Went to a shooting range (friend of mine had to go there anyway for mandatory military shooting exercises), they had a range to shoot handguns. Applied, got one, did my 10 rounds and left. But there was strong supervision, one wrong move and they would take the gun away.

banana_tree,
@banana_tree@lemmy.ml avatar

In my country its not allowed for civilians to murder people with guns, even if they come to your house or look like another ethnicity. Cops still do it sometimes tho, but they usually use cars/boots

mukt,
@mukt@lemmy.ml avatar

India : guns are licensed, and licenses aren’t easy to get. Huge black market of low standard gins though.

Obi,
@Obi@sopuli.xyz avatar

Urgh I hate low standard gins, I need at least a tanqueray or a monkey 37.

Mr_nutter_butter,
@Mr_nutter_butter@lemmy.world avatar

I’m in the UK it’s nearly impossible to get a fire arm so many back ground checks and when you do it’s only shotguns

CrabAndBroom,

Yeah in the UK we had a school shooting in the 90’s, then they really cracked down on gun ownership and there hasn’t been another one since.

There are still other types of shootings sometimes of course, but it’s pretty rare comparatively.

jjlinux,

In Dominican Republic the laws don’t allow anyone to carry, however, if you have enough money, you can pay your way through owning a gun and carrying legally. It’s messed up. I wish the law about guns here was like in Australia. No guns. End of story.

Woht24,

I’m Australian, live in the suburbs and have multiple firearms in my safe. There’s not many guns but there are certainly guns.

LemmyRefugee,

Spain: you need a justification and they are super hard to get. The most common one is to use it in Training Centers and you are forced to use it there every year or you lose it. Besides police I’ve never seen a gun in the street as it is strictly forbidden to carry them.

Honytawk,

Belgium.

The only guns I have ever seen in my entire life were from a friend’s dad when I was little, who was a park ranger and needed them to keep animal populations in check.

Never saw an other gun, ever.

If you don’t live in a shithole country, you don’t need guns in order to feel safe.

Zippit,

Also Belgium. The only time I had a gun was when I joined the Police for a few years. After that, nope. In my 5 years, I’ve never even had the thought that I should pull out my gun. I’ve served in Brussels and rural areas.

It was just emphasized so much during our 12 months of training to ‘never ever use it unless it’s your last resort, only pull out your gun when you’re ready to pull the trigger’ that it simply didn’t cross my mind. We were more trained with the stick thing, ‘job?’ and judo, hand to hand combat.

Also, as a civilian you have to take an exam to own a firearm. If you have mental health problems or a record of criminal behaviour forget it. Even if you do get a license, you can only use it in a shooting range and specific situations. And never transport your gun and ammo together.

If you have a burglar, even then you’re only allowed to use appropriate force. If he has a knife, you’re not allowed to shoot him.

Klear, (edited )

Czech Republic here. I know there’s a license involved but other than that I have no clue how it works. Why should I know anything about gun regulations? It’s such a niche and unimportant thing…

Woht24,

You shouldn’t but you also shouldn’t post about it, because as you said, you know nothing.

JGrffn,

This is an asklemmy thread, not an askgunnuts thread. Anyone from any country can answer whatever if they so please. The USA has a weird fascination with guns. This doesn’t translate to other countries at ALL. There’s enthusiasts everywhere, sure, but way less so than on murica.

Woht24,

Yes it is, a thread that asked what your laws are in comparison to the US and what your opinions are, you said you don’t know anything about it and why should you.

You didn’t answer the question.

I’m not from America so not sure what you’re on about with the US.

howrar,

It’s informative regardless of how much they know about their local gun laws. Not all answers need to directly answer the question.

Goldmage263,
@Goldmage263@sh.itjust.works avatar

I wish I could have that viewpoint. Believe me.

UraniumBlazer,

India. Very strict gun laws. This law is enforced in the part of India that I live in. The only gunshots that I’ve heard in my life are from movies and video games. However, I did hold a gun in my hand once hehe. One of my friends’ dads had a gun license for some reason (I think he was a top level policeman or something). It was an unloaded black revolver that he was showing off to us kids lol. I remember being surprised at how much heavier it was than I thought it to be.

HOWEVER, in northern India (especially Uttar Pradesh), illegal guns are a very real thing. The law is very poorly enforced there. So yeah… There’s that.

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